The Hidden Castle
by chickinwhite
Summary: There had been no need for the spell of undoing to bring Cara back after "eternity"! And now that she s back, Kahlan feels closer to her then ever. But nothing is ever easy and so a dark adventure begins... Have fun! :
1. Hunting

The shadows that crawled over the small clearing were slowly getting longer, a light breeze blew through the leaves with cold hands and Cara felt her shoulders tightening, full of expectation. The tautness around her was almost palpable, the air seemed to thicken and its weight getting hard on her skin. She was waiting. Lurking. She could sense the presence of her sisters even more then seeing them, hidden in the shadows of the trees. Lurking as she did. She knew, they wouldn´t have to wait much longer, their prey was on the way.

Lord Rahl, their _TRUE_ Lord Rahl, had been very clear in announcing their quest. And she better fulfilled his wishes in every way, because if not, she knew that all the very welcome little pleasures, she enjoyed with Dahlia, and not only these, would soon be past. And this even would be her smallest headache then. In his words had been no space for doubts about that.

"If you have the heart, Cara, to betray me, or to return without your prey, I will find a way to show you the consequences of such a behavior in an absolute unforgettable way. And be sure, Cara, the training you´ve be gone through this time, will appear as a tenderly embrace, compared to the pain I will give to you. Well, I´m not even sure, if you will ever be able to share any pleasure with Dahlia after that again." His breath had been a hot breeze, whispering the threat into her ears.

And Cara knew very well that he was serious. She had a clear picture in her mind of her punishment in case of her failure, and she set no great store by the experience. Not that she had ever doubted his words - she wasn´t entitled to. It was his privilege to punish her if she would fail, and she would appreciate it, because she would deserve it. No, failing was just no option! Not for her, who was only a few days back to her true family, and Lord Rahl had given her the honor to return into his personal circle, notwithstanding her betrayal of all she had been trained for.

Some of her sisters weren´t convinced yet. She knew what they thought about her, she could feel it whenever they shared the room with her. Her raised hackles told about it, when she felt their eyes upon her: she had let herself go! For so many months she had grown weak, had started to ignore her true nature, listened to those fools, who told her a Mord Sith could be more than just a weapon; a Mord Sith could be something like a normal person, worth to be cared about and perhaps even able to share such silly emotions like…love…Cara felt a bitter taste on her tongue, caused by the mere thought of it.

Not the first time since her retraining she brooded over how she had come to this point. How did it ever get so far? She was a Mord Sith; and she was more then proud of it. Her only purpose was to serve Lord Rahl, she was his living weapon, prepared to die for him if that would be his will, and for sure, to be for his pleasure if he desires so. And to feel honored to be ordered into his bed.

Her hands reached for her agiels, embracing the sudden pain flooding her mind in such a familiar way. This was, what she really was, what she needed, what gave her power! Nothing else she wanted to be!

Honor, pride, loyalty - those were the feelings that made her powerful.

In the corner of her eyes she could barely recognize Dahlia, who sneaked feline between the trees in her direction. The pure sight of her boosted Cara´s arousal in an instant. It was Dahlias way to move, her strong muscles under her leather, and now the excitement, this pure lust in her eyes, when her gaze locked with Cara´s. A barely hidden promise, forcing Cara´s stomach to flutter, while she leered at her. Everything around her seemed to tremble in expectation of the hunt.

And the Mord Sith were on the hunt! And this time, it was no small, innocent rabbit, to be hunted in the last daylight. This time, they were a pack of wolves, on the trace of a dangerous beast, hunting to overthrow it in a massive final attack, merciless and irrevocable. And she, Cara, as the leader of the pack, would have the honor, to run their prey to earth, and this would finally complete the rebuilding of her Mord Sith reputation.

´Cause their prey was no one less then the seeker and his confessor!

….

They waited patiently for hours in the shades of the trees around the clearing, where the ways crossed, as Cara had ordered them to. Their prey would come along here, she was sure.

Cara knew they would come. She knew the scouts, sent to observe their steps, had been needless. She knew it, because she knew them, better as anyone else did. She knew exactly how they acted, what their next steps would be. They could not help but step into their trap. They simply became the victims of their endless naivety, their illogical mind and their silly, arrogant emotions, which led them to believe they were the only ones, who could possibly rescue Cara - and, even worse, that Cara wanted to be rescued by them!

They were fools! They didn´t know the first thing about her! They had no idea, what a Mord Sith really wanted and expected from living.

The corner of her mouth curled into a scoffing grin while she imagined the Seeker, in an enthusiastic hurry to approach , to rescue "his" Mord Sith, willing to fight an unwinnable fight against Darken Rahl without even thinking of the consequences.

Lord Rahl had not been right, when he tried to rub salt into her wounds with his words "you´re not as important, that the seeker would come for you". He didn´t know it better, because he didn´t know them as Cara did. She had been sure that the Seeker wouldn´t hesitate to come to her aid. He would never let "his" Mord Sith be captured by Darken Rahl, though it was only for his own well-being. That he didn´t really care for her she had recognized when Lord Rahl had convinced her in her retraining, that the Seeker abused her as a pet that he proudly presented to the world -"look at this former monster, I´ve tamed it"

There was a hot sting in her chest, when she imagined Richard; with a resolute glint in his eyes on his way to Darken Rahl, electrified by the rage of the sword and confident to be the one who had to save the world. Cara could see him as clearly, as if he stood in front of her, and something inside her made it suddenly hard to breath.

Cara´s eyes went hard, she clenched her jaw and anger forked through her body. She focused her mind on her single purpose: revenge! Revenge for the dishonor the Seeker gave her, when he absorbed her into his group; when he ripped her out of her true life; when he tried to convince her, she was one of them.

The Seeker and his old grandfather, the great wizard Zorander... Cara frowned. This sad figure of a silly old man, who wouldn´t be a big aid for his grandson in this fight, knowing that the Mord Sith merely waited for his wizard´s fire to use it against himself!

With a hard smirk Cara figured the old mans face, his gaze, desperate, helpless and heart-broken, and she could feel her stomach tighten. - Must be the anticipation of their triumph.

And last not least: the Mother Confessor!

Cara could feel her hackles rising. Needless to say that she would wear her white confessor dress, just to bring out her own importance without any doubt.

Cara tightened her grip on her agiels and again she focused on the familiar pain that distracted her from this queer sense that caught her breath in a sudden burst.

She frowned with the thoughts of the Confessor. Something was wrong with it. The picture of her didn´t get clear, she saw her face only in bruised shadows. What did that mean? The faces of the Seeker and the wizard had appeared quite clearly, but the Confessors?

Cara remembered every detail, her long brown curls, swinging like dark flames around her head while fighting, her eyes so very blue, inviting to loose yourself in, those lips, velvety, the little scar… - every detail was in her mind, but the whole picture kept blurred.

With a single blow Cara recognized, that she had really lost the image of the Mother Confessor. The sudden realization hit her completely unprepared. She cringed as hard, as if the powerful agiel that was used for her retraining had hit her again. And in the same moment she registered, soberly, that she had lost the picture exactly in that moment, when she fainted while her retraining for the first time. Her gaze, witch she barely remembered how touchingly it could be - her smile, able to light up a rainy day. Lost! Not even her voice she was able to recall, though she thought to remember, that it could let her heart swing…-So what, Cara shrugged, it had made her weak! She reminded somehow with a sour taste on her tongue that she had clung to her picture, until Lord Rahl decided to boost his training with the help of the sisters of the dark, that she locked it up somewhere deep inside her mind to protect it.

- To protect herself -

It was not until she felt the grasp on her shoulder, firm and grim, that Cara noticed Dahlia, who kneed beside her and gave her a concerned look. "What is it?" She asked, her eyes staring at her alerted. She hadn´t missed the slight moan, which had escaped from Cara´s lips without her knowing.

Cara glared at her from the corner of her eyes and managed a grin. "Just can´t wait! Let´s get it over with this, I don´t want to wait any longer for the pleasantness that waits for me in your chamber." Her eyes seemed full of blatant desire.

Dahlia leered at her. "You´ve heard Lord Rahl! He wants to give you the honor to invite you into his chambers for a while as a sign of his admission. But don´t worry, I´ll be there in a few days, and I´ll be waiting impatiently!"

Cara furrowed her brows, but before she could snap an answer there was a flow behind the trees. All of a sudden her nerves were on the edge. She could sense the wave of arousal going through all Mord Sith in the shadows. Their prey appeared.

…..

They matched exactly the picture she had painted: the seeker went straight ahead, forcefully he hurried on his way to find Darken Rahl. His Confessor was just a step behind, Cara couldn´t see her face, half covered from the dark curtain of her hair, and the wizard, a bit breathless but not less purposeful, stumped afterwards. Cara could hardly stifle a twisted grin when she detected the half bitten apple in his hand.

They fell blindly in their trap. Cara gave a short wink and it snapped.

A dozen Mord Siths appeared from the shadows into the clear. Cara stood for a moment and observed them, feeling the incipient prickle of arousal on her skin. And then the storm broke out.

The first who fell was the wizard. He had not a single chance, his wizard fire would have destroyed him, resent by the Mord Sith, so he fought with a short sword – the spirits only knew where it came from – and when he lost it with his first attack, he went down under the angry blows of the agiels, without the smallest resistance. Nearby was his apple in the grass, the unbitten side shining with the last glow of the evening sunlight.

Cara ignored the scene. She had ordered her sisters to keep them all alive, if possible, according to Lord Rahl´s expectations, who wished to bring them to death himself in a certainly slow and painful way. She was sure, her sisters would hold back, though the air over the clearing had become heavy of murderous frenzy.

The Seeker had unsheathed his sword in one pliant motion and started to fight in a split second. His strokes were hard and deadly, and his motions elegant and limber. With an enraged roar he sent three of her sisters down to the grass. His art of fight Cara had ever adored; his efficiency to strike without any hesitation or disbelief, to admit the dance with the death. Even now she allowed herself an instant to watch the scene with an almost content smile, while four Mord Sith pestered him with their agiels. This time he wouldn´t escape, which was sure! When he became aware of her he cried out loud:

"Cara! Stop that! You are not yourself! Wake up Cara! You can fight it! – CARA!" but she didn´t even turn her head towards him, he wasn´t her aim. She moved on, barely noticing from the corners of her eyes like an agiel stroke fiercely into his unguarded flank, while two others put upon the moment of surprise and shuddering pain to blow into his chest…

Cara focused completely on the scene in front of her now. Four Mord Sith had encircled the mother Confessor, who whirled in wild and dangerous moves, her daggers in her hands, striking forcefully against her attackers. It was an image of ferocious beauty, as she attacked one sister in a quick lunge, to flash into a turn and stab a second into her side, at the same time smoothly drawing aside some agiels who snapped at her like rabid dogs. Whenever an agiel reached her body Cara could hear a harsh wheeze, but no scream came over her lips, though her arms and her neck were already painted with dark marks, but the Mord Sith were bleeding as well. Obviously the Mother Confessor was not in the mood to give an easy prey. Cara could barely break away from the deadly elegance of her moves, the fascination of her wild waving hair which rounded her head like a collar of dark fire. She had just lost one dagger, fought grimly with only one resting weapon for her life. Cara clenched her jaw. This would be her revenge, finally!

Dahlia gave her a smirk, when she approached. In her eyes she could see the flush of triumph and passion. She bled from a heavy gash over her cheek but didn´t seem to notice it. Willingly she stepped aside to let Cara pass. The confessor had just managed to strike the last Mord Sith down with an exceeding blow of her dagger. The dead body of her enemy fell without a noise.

Resolutely Cara stood at her side. She recalled all those things she blamed this woman for: her dishonor, her weakness – this woman had let her betray her true family, she had made her weak and soft; she was the one who had nearly convinced her of those foolish emotions, that no Mord Sith should ever appreciate. She had pretended to care about her; but in truth she had made her a stupid pet! Cara didn´t notice that her eyes widened and swell. She didn´t record that her heart pounded hard in her chest. With an immense blow she snatched the dagger out of the Confessors hand.

Hissing in rage Kahlan turned around to face her new attacker – and froze immediately. Like a campfire would be snuffed out by water, her entire energy seemed vanish in a split of a second; her shoulders dropped down; her arms hang limply at her side. Her face mirrored nothing but unbelieving, naked horror. Kahlan stared into Cara´s eyes and recognized with a sudden burst that this was the end!

In those steely eyes was no trace left over of Cara, of the woman, which Kahlan had believed in with all her heart, for whose soul she would have fought until the end, for whom she even would have given her life!

She had lost the fight. - She had lost Cara!

Where a few seconds ago she had felt rage and power and passion, there was nothing but a huge emptiness, hopelessness, and a sense of deep sorrow, covering every living emotion inside her. Kahlan barely noticed her eyes swelling with tears. Her knees buckled, her stomach tightened and a pain, as if her heart was ripped out of her chest, caught her breath and she slowly crashed on her knees.

Turning slightly in slow motion she regarded the scene behind her. She saw Zedd, lying in the clammy grass at the end of the clearing. She couldn´t tell if he was dead or only unconscious, but which difference would it make?

A few steps behind her she saw Richard, bleeding and now bound and breathing heavily, surrounded by six dead bodies who bore testimony to his fight. She sighed desperately, sending a wordless apology for her failure with her eyes towards him. The sound of his shout was a dull whisper in her ears:

"Kahlan! Don´t do that! Don´t give up! You can confess her, it is the only chance! Kahlan! – KAHLAN! Listen to me! Confess her!" a hard blow of the agiel and he fainted.

Kahlan turned her face slowly towards Cara, who looked at her, sneering, and struggled hard to stand up again. Tears poured her cheeks in an endless stream but she didn´t care. Kahlan locked her eyes with Cara´s while she tried to get her arm to move into Cara´s direction. The Mord Sith stood straight, her agiel held ready for the final blow if Kahlan was really going to dare touching her.

Cara stretched her chin and watched Kahlan, who was obviously lost in despair, but tried hard to struggle against it. She looked at her face and somehow she seemed to remember a picture. There was a tiny spark of doubt deep inside her; she couldn´t classify, so she tried to ignore. But then their eyes locked, and for a heartbeat, that became a moment of eternity for the both of them, the world stood still. Cara dunked into Kahlan´s eyes, into their brilliant blue behind the tears, puzzled by the confused emotion of needing it. What she recognized inside her felt strange: the struggle, the pain and the deep sorrow, that surrounded every corner of her mind. Cara didn´t want it but she wasn´t prepared for this connection. So she wasn´t armed against the power of emotion waiting for her to fell her like an old tree. She was stunned by the love that flowed through Kahlan even now, an unquestioning love for that Mord Sith who had killed her sister and whom she thought to be worth of her love anyway.

Cara felt a strange pain growing inside her. There was a small crack, like a glass getting a flaw, and then bursting with such an impact that the ground beneath her feet seemed to tremble. A chain flying in pieces, and the almost painful sense of a heart restarting to beat after a while.

Kahlan´s hand still moved slowly towards Cara´s neck. Her fingers trembled, Dahlia hissed something like a warning but neither Kahlan nor Cara seemed to notice.

Merely a few millimeters before Kahlan reached Cara´s throat she ceased. Her gaze was bursting, she nearly collapsed and with a desperate hiss she turned half towards Richard: "I´m sorry, Richard! ... I can´t do it!" and when her arm moved higher her voice was only a murmur: "I can´t kill her…" her fingertips touched Cara´s cheek slightly, whispering with broken breath: "She´s my life!"

Kahlan couldn´t fight no longer. She gave up, her body dropped slowly to the ground.

Cara stared at her, her eyes hard, and yet, while Kahlan was falling, Cara´s hand grasped her agiel and stroked out for the final blow. In a turning to the left she poked the agiel directly onto Dahlias chest, whose eyes widened and broke. Cara whispered cheerless but decided" I´m sorry, Dahlia. It´s over."

She grabbed the dagger from the grass and threw it towards the last Mord Sith. She was dead before she knew it.

Breathing heavily Cara stood on the clearing. Her gaze went over to Zedd, who gave a low moan and to Richard, who was still unconscious and bleeding, but save. At least her gaze caught Kahlan´s, their deep blue eyes were wide in disbelief and Cara sank slowly to her side, buried her face on her shoulder and was grateful for her strong arms to pull her closer and hold her tight.

...

t.b.c.


	2. Troubled

**Summary**: Hunting was Cara´s return (– my way), and now she feels troubled...

**Disclaimer:** Nothing of LotS belongs to me (such a pity!) - no business, just fan-fun

**Troubled**

She felt her steely gaze on her skin, burning into her shoulders, hard and inexorable since a few hours now. Whenever she turned half towards her, she saw her staring eyes, remorseless, not blinking away for the slightest moment. This woman didn´t even think about giving in to her glare, peering at her. It was kind of a battle; they fought without any moves and without any noise, but she felt more and more annoyed. Those eyes showed no emotion, they just stared at her, but Kahlan could literally feel the wall of concentrated hate and scorn that surrounded her, followed her, always ready to roll over her like a dark distractive wave.

She was on her watch. Her companions had taken their bed rolls inside the small cave and were asleep. At least they should be. But Kahlan knew as sure as if she could see it right in front of her, that Cara would lie awake, couldn´t get any rest, and she ached to see her, talk to her, but she couldn´t. She couldn´t dare let this woman alone, the one that caused her hackles rising, though she was tied up and she had checked the bonds herself several times, to reassure, that the threat she posed couldn´t turn into deadly reality in a sudden.

She felt concerned about Cara. The Mord Sith hadn´t spoken with her during the whole day, she refused any words, which even had seemed not to reach her ears, while she was brooding, retreated into her shell, just moving mechanically with her companions…

– and with their captive.

Kahlan couldn´t tell exactly what it was, that Cara dealt with. But she was absolute sure, that it was something more than her final return to them after been tortured so hardly, that it was something in the pure presence of this woman in red leather, who stared at her from the opposite of the campfire. She stretched her chin and watched her captive thoughtfully.

At least, she blamed Richard for this. If he hadn´t insisted, if he hadn´t decided, this Mord Sith could be very useful in detecting the next steps of his brother which would lead them into the better position, all could have felt so …RIGHT!

But Richard hadn´t listened to her arguments, had ignored her angry voice and his grandfather agreed with him – like he mostly did when she begged to differ – and so he had ordered Cara to give her sister the breath of life. She could tell that doing so had taken a lot out of Cara, the way, she had stiffened, the tiny instant of hesitation, her brows frowned and – oh Cara! – her gaze, that ripped deep into her heart, all those details had spoken volumes… At least, when the other Mord Sith slowly came back to life, Kahlan had caught a short blink from Cara, kind of a plea for forgiveness, that Kahlan had not been able to classify. Not yet.

And then she had watched the Mord Sith waking up, puzzled about what had happened, searching and recognizing first Richard, which made her frowning, then Zedd and at least Cara. Her eyes had widened, filled with unbelieving and the one question „WHY?", but Cara had turned away, unable to hold out against those eyes.

- And Kahlan had felt her heart breaking a tiny bit…

The revived Mord Sith had been bound and when she stood upright, she had met Kahlans eyes and seemed to recognize in the same instant, that she faced the woman, she should blame for all. Her gaze had finally locked with Kahlans, burning with concentrated rage and hate and Kahlan knew within a heartbeat, that whatever may come, she better should be on the qui vive, that this Mord Sith would never get into her back, if she wanted to survive.

And now she sat here, confronted with a tied, dump stranger, whose eyes were throwing mental daggers towards her - which Kahlan could nearly sense as strong stitches in her chest.

Kahlan examined the other woman, her stoic confessor face didn´t show anything, while inside she felt a growing muddled medley of emotions. The brown haired wore the red leather of the Mord Siths, she could hear it creaking gently from time to time, when she yanked covertly her bonds. Her hair was bound tautly out of her face, falling in a long braid over her shoulder, the way, Mord Sith usually wore it. Her eyes had the color of carrageen in the early sunlight – even though they were covert right now by an icy winter breeze… She was beautiful, in an own, special way. Rough and firm, but beautiful. Kahlan knew who she was, she had recognized her while she fought against her, had felt a sudden, murderous rage, an urgent needing to kill this woman, longing to snuff her out… - she was the one who had betrayed Cara!

"She will never be yours!"

Kahlan cringed at the sudden words. And she didn´t want it, but she had to admit, that even her voice was kind of beautiful. Or might have been, if it wouldn´t be as harsh and acidly, as it was with the few words she spit at her. Her tone was sharp-edged like razors, cutting slowly into Kahlans skin. She didn´t answer, just kept on staring at the other with her nothing-betraying confessors face.

"I will kill you – or Cara – before I allow her to be yours, Confessor!" her low voice a naked threat, her eyes had narrowed, filled with the passion of hate. The title was a miserable spitting on Kahlan.

Kahlan could literally sense how her mind froze with her words. Somewhere deep inside her chest the medley of emotions started to whirl around, changing slowly. It was the beginning of an ungovernable anger, climbing up from her belly, flooding her chest. With a voice, keen and cold as ice she answered slowly:

"You won´t! I will ensure that there will be no space resting for you, to do her any harm again. You and your sisters, and the man you serve, you have tortured her the longest time! This will never – NEVER! - happen again, I swear!" Her voice was a low dark growl. Her eyes kept no longer the unreadable confessor's expression; their brilliant blue had turned into dark and dangerous pools. "So don´t dare even think about it - you will regret it!"

The Mord Sith raised her chin. She stood there, leaning against the tree she was tied to, proudly, sending a scoffing smirk to her. Her voice dripped of scorn when she spoke again, every word meant as a smack into Kahlans face.

"You don´t know the first thing about her!" she gave a low chuckle, "What you take for a torture was in truth saving her, rescuing her from the sad fate of being your abased slave. I can tell you, that Cara has deserved so much more than this! I know her for my whole life; I shared with her every step on her way to be broken and finally advancing to the favorite of Lord Rahl! I was the one who treated her wounds, as she did with mine! I know the darkest sides of her, her desires, her power! - When I found her she was nothing but a well trained pet of the Seeker, and of his Confessor! Weak and lost! – But I remembered the former Cara, who was strong and straight, proud and dignified.

All what we have done - what I have done - was for her best. ..and, oh damned, it was almost too late for her!

Do you know how long she resisted her training?

Lord Rahl gave her the honor to train her himself. And you might believe me: he knows exactly how it works. He´s an artist with the agiel!" She smirked.

"But she resisted! Even through the hardest tortures she didn´t give in; when she was bleeding all over, when her skin was painted with marks and bruised, she didn´t give in! Instead she mocked at him!" – and with a soft smile – " She really made me very proud!"

Kahlan had shut her eyes down. Her heart pounded hard in her chest, it felt as if gripped by a cold hand, twitching slightly; the air had become a dogged mass blocking her breath. She didn´t want to hear it, didn´t want to imagine the pain Cara had been through, but Dahlia continued, and she couldn´t escape, so she listened:

"Cara was the strongest and worthiest Mord Sith that ever served Lord Rahl. So he didn´t expect her to be easily re-broken again. But I know that deep inside her she wanted to come back! She ached for it! That´s her real live, her true essence, serving the true Lord Rahl is her live, being with her sisters – being with me - is her live! – and at least Lord Rahl found a way to break her…"

While listening to the words, Kahlan had moved from the rock she had been sitting on and stood now straight, her raised chin, her clenched jaw and her hands, clenched in fists, showing white knuckles, spoke of her hard battle not to lose her temper. She had visions of Cara in her mind, hanging in chains, being hurt and bleeding…In the sudden silence there was nothing to hear but the sizzling noise of the dying campfire. Kahlan took a deep breath.

Though she felt an overwhelming reluctance she couldn´t help but ask:

"What has he done?" her voice trembled, barely a whisper. Her eyes were opened wide, already frightened of the answer.

"He convinced the sisters of the dark to assist. They forced the agiel with all the pain of Caras former victims, so Lord Rahl could turn it successfully against her." Her eyes got a special gloss in reminding: "It was the most powerful breaking I have ever had the honor to join." With a proud glare she focused Kahlan, who trembled slightly, not believing the frenzy she heard.

If Lord Rahl had the help of dark magic, the agiel he used would have had an unimaginable power, it would have caused a kind of pain that would not only destroy the mind through the body, but would even crush the soul of its victim. Kahlan barely heard a harsh wheeze before recognizing it was her own mouth which had let it out. She swallowed twice, trying to keep her mind clear and not to give in to the frightening emotion of been hurt, from deep inside. The strange feeling of a knife scratching at her heart, sharp and vicious.

Kahlan closed her eyes. She remembered the moment, when her dagger had been snatched out of her hand and she had turned, stunned facing this stranger, who looked like Cara, but who had not the tiniest spark of Cara inside her. A cold shiver run down her spine, when she imagined her steely gaze, ready to kill, ready to erase everything what had been before with a single blow. She remembered her own desperation, when she recognized, that she had lost her…

There was a stifled moan from Kahlans lips. She had approached towards her captive, asking in a low, painful controlled voice:

"How could you let this happen? If you care for her, as you pretend you do, how could you ever let this happen? You almost destroyed her!" Her voice had grown louder and the last two words she nearly hissed in a sharp-edged wheeze.

Dahlia stretched her chin arrogantly. "It is the privilege of Lord Rahl, to judge over his Mord Siths. He cares for us. It´s not up to me to put his decisions into question! I am just proud to serve him, and I know, that Cara will be proud again to serve him. And she will do! Cause I will do everything to regain her, because I care for her! I love her because she is what she is!"

Something inside Kahlan exploded with an impact which made the air burning in a sudden. Before even thinking about she lunged out, backhanded Dahlia with all the fury she felt, blowing her head against the tree, just wishing she would stop to talk. There was not even magic in her beat - it was nothing but pure, naked rage, irresistible grown in her mind and now bursting outside, uncontrolled and wild. She stroked out to hit a second time, frantic, longing to punish this woman hardly for what she blamed her, giving her back a part of what Cara had been gone through...

"Kahlan!"

Breathing heavily she stared at Dahlia who sneered back at her, Kahlan barely noticed that the Mord Sith bled from the corner of her lips, feeling the rage washing through her mind.

"KAHLAN!" louder this time. When she turned she faced Cara, her brows lifted, reaching out to grab her shoulders and shake her slightly. "Kahlan, what are you doing? What happens here?"

„Cara…?" – Kahlan focused on her, surprised. She had missed her approach; turning half away from Dahlia, who acknowledged her with a sharp glare which didn´t even try to hide her lust to kill Kahlan. - Now! - And as painful as possible!

The blonde was near, her eyes peered first Kahlan then went over to Dahlia, frowning warily, and after a short moment searched Kahlans again. She knew it was really the wrong moment, but she could barely hide a grin over the picture of the two women, one matching the others posture, the one tied to the tree almost throwing out sparks, the other with scrunched, angry eyes, but both kind of kingliness with stretched chins and clenched jaws, squared shoulders - and kind of sullen at the same time. But then her gaze caught Kahlans, and she stopped smirking. The confessor had gotten pale; her eyes flashed fire behind their brilliant blue, small muscles under her cheekbones worked heavily in concentration of keeping her temper.

Cara furrowed her brows while catching Kahlan, who still breathed heavily and enraged but didn´t say a word, at her arms, pulling her away from the Mord Sith, trying to understand what had happened between the two women. She was astonished in some degree to find Kahlan smacking a bound captive as hard as she had. This was Kahlan! And this was definitive no normal behavior of her, who was always controlled and compassionate, who ever tried to understand the reasons before judging.

The Mother Confessor a fury? Cara shook her head slightly; she knew that there could only be one reason for this; and this reason had a name: DAHLIA!

She sighed deeply, before turning around.

It´s been a bad night, and like Kahlan had assumed, she hadn´t slept a single moment, listening to the night birds songs, lurking to any sounds from the campfire outside. A low voice inside her head had tried to convince her that she should go and talk to Kahlan, should tell her that she was fine, that she didn´t doubt anything, but she had managed to ignore it for hours.

She wanted to do so badly, but wasn´t ready yet, not capable to explain what had happened, to fix the root of the matter.

There were too many thoughts, her mind overloaded with memories floating through her as it had been for the whole day. Visions of the last year, her being with her friends – _friends_, it sounded still odd in her ears - battles they had fought together, victories they had shared.

- feelings which had troubled her …

And visions of her former life: dungeons in the palace, bathes with her sisters. The smell of blood and sweat. Nights she had shared with Dahlia. Triana, who had left her for death but had died instead, Lord Rahl and the sisters of the dark, re-breaking her…

From the moment, when Dahlia had started to breath again and her eyes had asked her, reproachful – why? – she had felt this… - _troubled_.

The hours had gone by while walking with her companions, brooding over what had happened. - Richard and his grandfather didn´t even seem to notice that something really important had changed. They just appreciated to have Cara back and didn´t question it.

But Cara had felt Kahlans gaze on her back, not staring, not burning on her skin, more the way like a soft warm touch, covering bad thoughts, comforting… Cara had caught out herself smiling several times, when she could literally feel the gentle breeze of her eyes, running softly over her.

Those were the moments when she reminded how she had laid beside her on the clearing, burying her head on Kahlans shoulder, trembling, exhausted, but relieved and – finally – liberated. The smell of Kahlan comforting her mind, her arms holding her tight, her voice a husky embrace, whispering her name again and again…

She remembered how she had wished she could stop time and rest with this feeling of sweet weightlessness for eternity.

But there was something else, a queerish and grievous feeling, burning in her bones, drawing in her waist! Gnawing on her mind! Something she had never felt before, strange, agitating. Cara had tried, but couldn´t classify it. And whenever her eyes met Dahlias, it bubbled up like an emerging storm, it hit like a smack on her face. It had taken her the whole day to figure it out, and when she finally had perceived it, she had denied it. She didn´t accept what she felt, she knew, it wasn´t right, she shouldn´t feel like that! She struggled hard to remove this feeling from her mind, but at least she had to face it. And she should try to live with it…

She felt guilty.

Cara slowly approached Dahlia. She had made her decision. And it didn´t matter what Richard, or his grandfather - or even Kahlan - would have to say about it.

When she was close, close enough to sense the heat under her leather, she pulled off one glove to touch the Mord Sith gently, caressing her cheek, a faint smile on her lips. Dahlia reacted in the split of a second, leaning into her palm, her glance meeting Caras with blooming desire.

"I´ve waited for you, Cara! I knew you would come for me." She twitched slightly at her bonds, "let us finish those games, please, I know you can´t wait for our privacy." Cara smiled at her, ignoring the fierce gasp, coming from Kahlan, who stood a few steps beside, alerted and wary, ready to grasp for her daggers and fight if she only got a reason. She locked with the carrageen-green eyes, still smiling faintly, but there was a slight shadow of sorrow in her glance. Slowly she put her hands around Dahlias waist, catching the bonds she was tied with. Her low voice was merely a whisper in Dahlias ear:

"I told you, Dahlia, it´s over! I will never go back to where I came from! I will never again be merely the living weapon of a tyrant!

AND - I will never – did you hear me? NEVER! - forget how you betrayed me!

It´s only due to Richard, that you are alive. I don´t want to kill you again. So, when I will free you now, just turn around and leave! - This will be your only chance to do. And you would be well advised never to get in my way again!" Dahlia cringed visibly, but didn´t answer, her eyes narrowed, and her frozen gaze wandered slowly over to Kahlan, who hadn´t heard the words, but could well sense the results like sharp knives. If looks could kill, she would have fallen lifeless to the ground. So her eyes widened in surprise, when she realized, that Cara was going to unbind this woman. She hissed a frightened "NO!", but in this second the Mord Sith was freed, grasping enraged in the same instant for one of Caras agiels from her side and flashing around with a sharp wheeze, her eyes filled with desire to kill, reaching out to strike Cara with a deadly blow - but a strong arm was faster, stopped her roughly from behind, a sharp dagger scratched her neck -

"…Will regret it, remember?" Kahlan hissed.

She took a look at Cara, who smiled at her with calming eyes.

"It´s okay, Kahlan, let her go. I´m sure she comprehends the meaning of it"

Hesitating Kahlan released Dahlia after a few seconds, stepping beside. The Mord Sith straightened up, her gaze glowed with disdain when she looked Kahlan over from head to toe. She turned slowly to Cara: "I never thought, Cara, the proud leader of the pack would become the silly toy of the Mother Confessor" she snapped viciously. Kahlan moved enraged, but Caras hand lay on her forearm, squeezing slightly to holt her back.

Dahlia stood close now to Cara, whispering „It's not that easy, Cara! Whatever you´ll do, you can hate me or you can love, but you will never be able to forget me!" and after a last killing glance she was turning away and leaving…

Looking afterwards her Cara smiled joyless and murmured: "I don´t have to, Dahlia! You will ever be a part of who I am…" and while her eyes wandered almost tenderly to the brilliant blue pools of Kahlans, offering her an affectionate smile, she sighed:

"… but just simply not the best one…"

t.e.


	3. Confused

The forgotten campfire slowly died its low sizzling death. In the trees around them there was no early bird, no little noise to announce the soon upcoming day. The woods were as quiet as the two women were, sitting together, lost in their own thoughts.

Cara struggled to fix what happened the last two days. Thoughts were jumping around in her mind like bucking foals, untamed and wild. Whenever she caught one, another took the chance to slip away. There was a mess in her head where she had only known clarity and reason before.

She couldn´t imagine, where all this came from and where it would lead her – and her companions. It seemed she had made a decision. Okay. But what was the result? For what – or for whom - exactly did she settle?

- To leave her sisters – and therefore Dahlia – for good

- Against following Lord Rahl any longer – who in fact was the one who created her, whom she owed to be Mord Sith, proud and strong and fearless

- To serve Richard, the Seeker, and his Wizard – and his Confessor.

- To travel together with the men – and Kahlan – for their safety

- To be on the right side, working for the good guys…

_Nonsense! _

To know the reason she just had to turn her head…

Wasn´t it just Kahlan, who was the real reason? Wasn´t it just for her, that she had come back? That she defeated the black magic and found her way home through all the hate and the ache for revenge? Wasn´t Kahlan at least the only thing that counted?

She sighed. She couldn´t tell what those feelings were, why she felt that certain band to the Mother Confessor. After all Kahlan had first been her enemy, an ever present threat, she always had been aware of the woman with the deadly daggers in her boots – and with the gift to bring death by _love_; Then she became kind of a teacher for her, in a world where Cara just found her feet. She respected her. And during their journey she had grown into something more important than just the Confessor at the Seeker´s side. She had become – what was it? A friend? – But… was that right? How did it feel with friends? Would she feel the same for other friends … well, if there were others?

She bridled, but she had to admit, that this could not be what she felt for Kahlan. There was so much more that Kahlan meant to her… This feeling was so much deeper then she suggested it would be if Kahlan was just a _friend_. She was attracted by her, she missed something when she was out of sight, she enjoyed every slight touch of her, she even smiled sometimes just with the simple thought of her. Her world was not going round without her nearby.

Cara sighed, frowning_. - Fine, Cara. Really fantastic! And how do you want to manage this? With a Seeker, freaking loving her? With a Wizard, fooling around and bursting with pride of his favorite couple? _

_And with Kahlan, who apotheosized Richard?_

She knew there was no way for her to get anything more than Kahlans friendship, as honestly as it might be, it would be all!

Cara stealed a peep to Kahlan from the corner of her eyes, and a warm wave swept through her stomach. But she furrowed her brow when she saw her shoulders stiffened and recognized how she clenched her fists. And then, with a sudden strike Kahlan slammed her hand on the rock, she sat on, and Cara´s eyes widened surprised.

"I should have confessed her!" Kahlan hissed. "She had deserved it! And we would no longer have to wince at every little noise from the woods. Waiting for her, descending on us in her frenzy." She shook her head "I should have confessed her when I had the chance to!" Kahlan hardly squeezed the words out, obviously barely in control of her anger.

Cara lifted a brow astonished and eyed her up. In a voice that she hoped to sound as calming as it should, she interrupted Kahlan´s burst.

"Kahlan, you should calm down!" She shrugged: "She´s just a Mord Sith, like there were many others before her – she won´t be a bigger threat then all the others were…"

"Ah, won´t she? Cara! _She_ was the one who led you into this trap! Who betrayed you! If not for _her_, Rahl would never have captured you – he would never have tortured you again! It was only because of _her_…"she stopped, swallowing hard. Her gaze wandered to the side and she stared into the glow. A dark shadow glided over her face. She slowly shook her head, dropped it down.

"No … no, it…it was because of me…"her words a strangled whisper.

Cara frowned. Spirits, what was Kahlan talking about?

"Stop it, Kahlan, there is nothing to blame _you _for. It was _me _who trusted her! And _I _should have known better! But I was blind for her real intend…"

Kahlan lifted her head and looked at her. Her so very blue eyes mirrored shame and sorrow. She bit her lower lip, then rested her hand on her mouth while she tried to fight back the tears, which already burnt in her eyes. After a short break, while she took a deep breath and regained her control she spoke in a husky voice:

"No, Cara. You should blame me for _all._ I have sent you away with her. You didn´t want to go, but _I _sent you away. Although her false pretense of being worried about your son was so lame, I didn´t recognize it. I forgot every reason because of a dead child! _Your_ child! And I even didn´t hesitate to rush you into her trap!" She locked with Cara´s eyes, sobbing low, desperate:

"It is my fault, Cara! I failed you! – I know I can never expect your forgiveness, but – please – you should know how much I regret! I´m so sorry, Cara!" and now the tears ran down her cheeks, leaving a small trail on their beautiful way.

Cara met her with disbelief.

This was wrong. And it gave her a strange feeling of silly helplessness. It hurt to see her like this. She wanted to stop her sorrow, wanted to tell her, that it wasn´t her fault, that she didn´t blame her for anything. Her heart pounded in her chest, her stomach twitched with the sight of the weeping woman, but she couldn´t bring out a single word. She didn´t even know what to say, how to calm her. This was not her part; it had ever been Kahlan who found the right words!

Instead, very slowly and carefully she grabbed her slightly at her shoulders and pulled her near. Kahlan took a breath to start speaking again, but she hushed her,

„Shush, shush…"

pressing her finger on her lips. Her gaze followed magnetized and almost automatically the tip of her finger, tracing a soft line around Kahlan´s mouth to the little scar, and without thinking she couldn´t help but leaned forward and kissed her… just a whiff of a kiss… and Kahlan didn´t draw back. Her lips tasted…so good… sweet and soft, and Cara acted on instinct when she let her tongue slowly find the way through Kahlan´s lips, which parted tentatively, allowing the kiss to deepen, and at least answering with her own tongue in a shy motion the unattended tenderness. A low moan was heard and neither Kahlan nor Cara could have told from whom of them it came.

They nearly had forgotten where they were, when a noise from the cave suddenly startled them.

Like kids, caught with the hand in the cookie box they separated hastily and tried to show a semblance of normality, when Richard appeared from the cave. Still a bit drowsy but in a good temper he smiled at his Confessor, didn´t recognize her blushed cheeks in the moonlight "Kahlan!" and with a glance to Cara, who had turned her back on him "You are both awake? Why didn´t you wake me up? I stay for watch! You should go inside and take a few hours of rest; I think it´s not too late if we will leave in the midmorning…"

Kahlan managed a crooked smile and could only nod.

Cara closed her eyes; she knew what would come next and clenched her jaw.

Richard glanced around and frowned when his eyes met the empty tree behind the fireplace, where no Mord Sith stood tied up and the now useless ropes were fallen to the ground. He paused and then flipped around, suddenly wide awake.

"What happened? Where is she?"

Cara, who hadn´t moved yet, only shrugged. "She´s gone!" was all she said, as if the simple statement was enough to answer all following questions. But Richard didn´t agree with it. He took a quick step towards Cara and was going to grab her at her shoulder to turn her around when Kahlan thwarted him. She laid her hand on his arm, firm and grim, and gave him a disapproving glance. She slowly shook her head, warningly. Richard paused, staring surprised first at her hand on his arm, keeping him back, and then at her strong-willed face.

Cara didn´t deign to look at him. She just turned around and stumped wordlessly into the cave. Kahlan loosened her grip not until she had vanished.

"Spirits, Kahlan, what does this mean? What has happened here? Where is Dahlia?"

"You have heard it, Richard: She´s gone!"

"But – how?" he gaped at her irritated. And then he started to comprehend, slowly, and his eyes searched the tree again, where the Mord Sith had been bound. "No, wait! Does this mean that you have let her go? She freed her? She untied her and sent her away?"

Kahlan stared into the last resting glow and nodded. Her face serious but unreadable.

"But… why? How could she do that? We have been agreed that she could be of great use for us! Dahlia might be the key to the information we need!" His voice had become louder. "Damned, Kahlan! She simply had no right to let her go!"

Kahlan narrowed her eyes angrily. "Pack it in, Richard! It was Cara´s decision! And _we _have no right to barge in!" and with a very low voice: "we shouldn´t have forced her to give Dahlia the breath of life at all…"

"But … Kahlan …I don´t understand…"

"That´s it, Richard: You don´t understand it!" she snapped.

And then, after a short instant, with a tired smile, she touched him on his arm again, softer this time, almost apologizing: "Give us a break. I´m tired, we should talk tomorrow" and without waiting for an answer she followed Cara into the cave…

Cara had taken her bedroll to the end of the cave, as far away from the other´s sleeping places as possible. She lay motionless, buried in her blanket, facing the cave´s wall. She was still awake, her head rotated with the thoughts of what had happened in the past few days.

– What had happened tonight between Kahlan and her.

She felt dizzy by the mere thought of this moment at the fire, this famous emotion when she touched Kahlan´s lips, her sweet taste on her tongue and her timid motion when she answered the kiss. - She bit her lower lip and tried to regain her reason.

_This - will never be! It is… impossible! So don´t even dare thinking about it, Cara. This was just a kind of her compassion, and she felt guilty. It doesn´t mean anything at all!_

But she wouldn´t forget it, never!

Her stomach twitched and she furrowed her brow. She locked her teeth. Strong-willed. Grim. - She could take that! She was the Mord Sith at Richard's side; her duty was to protect him – and Kahlan! She would do so, ever! And this bittersweet feeling that covered her pounding heart would be locked in a special compartment of it, where it couldn´t cause greater damage…It wasn´t important. It didn´t count anything at all.

She would keep a distance to the Mother Confessor! ...

Behind her she noticed a motion, and then the rustling of a mat, shifted next to hers. And then she could sense Kahlan, who lay down beside her. Then, after a moment, slipping tentatively a bit nearer. And at least, after a short eternity, huddled against Cara´s back, her hand wandering slowly, almost sheepish, around her waist to rest finally over her heart.

Cara had stiffened, her hand tried to wipe away Kahlan´s while she gave her a low dark growl: "What exactly do you think you are doing here, Kahlan?" It didn´t came out as sharp as she intended.

It took a long quiet moment before Kahlan answered. A moment, while she nestled even closer and buried her face in the silky blond hair: "I don´t want you to be alone. Not tonight" she whispered tenderly.

Cara sighed. She recognized how sure her voice was and could feel her hand pressed on her heart stubbornly - and she knew it wouldn´t be that easy to send her away.

And what was more, she felt the heat of Kahlan´s body like a soft, warming touch on her troubled mind, felt her warm breath on her neck, sending a shiver over her whole body - and she enjoyed it! It felt so… indescribable… fantastic...

– Distance could wait till tomorrow…

Kahlan could sense how Cara gave in and relaxed and she smiled endearingly when Cara´s fingers entangled with hers and the Mord Sith allowed her thumb a small motion, fondling the back of her hand while she pressed a gentle kiss on the blonde´s neck.

"I don´t know where this may lead us, Cara! But I´ll be there, for you, ever" she vowed mutedly into Cara´s ear, and then she leaned her face on Cara´s shoulder and let her scent caress her into a deep quiet sleep.

For Cara it was the first night since weeks, which she slept calm and dreamless, on her lips a hint of a smile …

T.B.C...


	4. Obsessed

**Summary**: _Three days now! Since three days the Mord Sith hung in chains…_

**Disclaimer:** Nothing of LotS belongs to me (such a pity!) - no business, just fan-fun

Three days now! Since three days the Mord Sith hung in chains and his rage hadn´t cooled down yet. She took the torture with a stoic devotion, which enraged him even more, made his blood circling in hot fever through his veins. But she knew she had deserved the punishment; she was a miserable failure, had badly disappointed him.

With a frustrated wheeze he stroke one more fierce blow at her back, and didn´t pull away the agiel until a dark flaw blossomed on her skin.

"_Cara has broken her chains!"_

He couldn´t believe it yet, wasn´t able to catch it. He was completely mystified of how she had made it. This had never been supposed to happen. She shouldn´t have had the tiniest spark of power to fight the dark magic which had finally broken her mind and her soul…

"_Cara has defeated the magic!"_

When Dahlia had returned alone from the hunt he had sent the both of them, something inside him had gone completely out of control. He was beside himself with rage. He didn´t even ask what had happened, had sent her straight into the dungeons, immediately wild with anger, floating his mind, roaring for violence, for torturing someone; and since he couldn´t get Cara it was Dahlia who had to suffer instead.

"_Cara is with the Seeker again!"_

He had released his anger on her with dark ferocity, covered her body with deep and dark bloody welts. Marked her with heavy blows of the agiel, as he wished to mark Cara instead, and she had only whimpered in canine devotion. It had driven him almost mad. A few times he´d lost control in blank irascibility and sent the Mord Sith rashly to the Keeper; only to order one of her sisters to bring her back to life to start again with even more force...

It was a senseless endeavor. He knew it. He wasn´t _breaking_ her, she already was his pet with all her being, and it was obvious that the fact that Cara had freed herself caused her more pain than he ever could…

When sun went down on the third day, his brain slowly started to work again. As his mind cleared, his anger vanished, he stroke one last time with the agiel hardly over Dahlias chest, listened to the pain that hissed through her clenched teeth before he stopped her heart with a vicious vehemence. Breathing heavily he regarded her lifeless body, eyes half closed, abandoned himself to the powerful satisfaction which felt so familiar, the power which allowed him to bring pain and death within a heartbeat. And not needing a reason...

He turned away, giving a short wink to one of the Mord Sith to bring him some water. He washed his hands quietly, took the cloth she offered him and left. On his way out he stepped carelessly over the dead Mord Sith on the ground.

"Give her the breath of life. Then go and clean her and treat her wounds. I´ll expect her in my chambers tomorrow morning!"

...

Dalia stood on the naked floor in the middle of a tall, noble room. The walls where of a dark grey, so diligently polished that they seemed to gleam like a mirror. The walls were naked, the only decoration where a few torches in simple iron-forged holdings. The only furniture was a majestic throne in dark brown, richly ornamented with carvings, telling about battles in cruel pictures. Along the walls the floor was covered with precious carpets in the red and black of D´Hara. Just in the middle of the room a piece of two men´s length in square was spared out.

It made it easier to clean up, if blood would remain after one of Rahl´s... conferences.

She stood motionless since a few hours now. Her gaze fixed to the floor in front of her feet. She wore red leather, discerning from the normal Mord Sith´s uniform just through the lack of the neckpiece. Beneath it she could feel every single bruise, every bloody welt and every deep blue mark she had experienced in the last few days by her Lord Rahl. Her limbs ached, her muscles screamed exhausted inside her mind. But her thoughts had wandered to the hunt, to the evening before Cara had sent her away. She tried hard to remember every word that had been spoken, to recall every detail of those unforeseen events. She tried to regain every single minute since the hunt had begun. Tried to unmask the special moment, when Cara had freed herself, when she overpowered the dark magic, when she had pit herself against Lord Rahl.

She barely heard him growl: "There must be more, Dahlia! Think about it! ...Imagine Cara! – What …has …happened?" Rahl circled her in steady motions, impatiently, staring at her as if his gaze tried to drill into her brain.

"Mylord, it´s all I can tell. I can´t say anything more …" And she repeated once more what she had told a dozen times:

"I had no doubt about Cara! She was filled with pride of her return to her true family; she was literally aching for the triumph over the Seeker – all she longed for was to please you!

When the three of them arrived at the clearing we had the element of surprise on our side. It went on schedule. It should have been an easy hunt. Cara gave the sign and we attacked. The wizard fell, the Seeker and his Confessor were encircled and the Seeker was struck down; though he fought well, we were the better!

I personally was with the sisters around the Confessor. We had nearly disarmed her when Cara arrived. She already raised her arm to strike the final blow – but then she turned around und stroke me instead. The next I found myself in the underworld."

"What did she say, the Confessor?"

"Nothing, Mylord"

"Dahlia!" He smacked her hard with the back of his hand. His voice razor-sharp: "She must have said or done something! Think about it!"

She breathed heavily. "She said nothing!... Not to Cara…but she turned to the Seeker and he yelled she should confess her and…" He interrupted her harshly.

"So she confessed Cara and freed her with her magic?"

"NO, Mylord. She did not." She shook her head. "She… barely touched her."

Rahl paused and stood in front of her now, one brow lifted in surprise. This was new!

"She _has_ touched her? Think about it Dahlia. What exactly happened there? You had encircled the Mother Confessor…"

Dahlia closed her eyes. She recalled the picture of the battle; saw the Mother Confessor flashing in circles, with her daggers in hand, her hair flickering around her head like dark flames in the last glowing sunlight. She saw her dancing with the death, forcefully striking against her sisters, killing one after the other, stabbing with a deadly elegance. She felt the hard gash against her own cheek, felt warm blood on her own skin where the dagger had slashed her face, while one of her sisters managed to blow the first dagger out of her hands. And then there was Cara, approaching with a steely face, ready to run their prey to earth.

Rahl hang on her lips, his gaze had become an ice-cold stare. His expression was unreadable, but inside him he boiled with rage.

Dahlias face had changed while describing the scene. Her eyes stared into space, but her expression spoke of respect, even a spark of admiration melted through her voice.

Furiously he snarled at her:

"Stop it Dahlia! NOW!"

She lifted her head, confused. "Mylord?"

"You will stop that _immediately_! - Dahlia! You should hear yourself! You almost sound like a silly pet of the Mother Confessor!"

"But – Mylord…"

"By the Keeper! What is it with this woman? How does she make every living creature start to whimper for her whenever she appears?" He growled at her: "Look at you, Dahlia, your eyes are glowing with – I don´t know what! A _Mord Sith_ like you!"

"Mylord!" Dahlia was exasperated with his words. "I may assure you, that you´re mistaken! I would never feel any good for the Confessor! I hate her! She is …the dirt under my boots! I wish nothing more than to get my revenge, to kill her for everything she has done to me – and to Cara! For the entire dishonor.

Just give me the order, Mylord and I swear I will bring you her head! – Or will face the Keeper in the underworld if I fail you!"

He stared at her in rage for a second, eyes narrowed dangerously, suddenly lunging out to backhand her with a force, that crashed her down on her knees…

"You shouldn´t try to make a fool of me, Dahlia" he hissed. "It is still _my own decision_ whom I order or when! Don´t dare trying to manipulate me – you will fail!

As you seem to fail a bit too often in the last days…" his voice dripping with scorn.

"And now get out of my chambers and go, search for a dark hole to crawl inside, I can´t bear your sight anymore!" He waved a hand impatiently.

Dahlia swallowed and turned around wordless. She left the room like a whipped dog. Every step ached in her bones and muscles, but Rahl´s words had hurt her even more.

She walked through the temple towards her room, her thought seeking intensely for a way to get bloody revenge. Any way. Her mind went furious, her blood raced through her veins.

"This is your fault, Mother Confessor! And I swear… by my honor… you will pay for it! The day will come, when I will make you desperate… to never ever …have met Cara at all…" she whispered under her breath, vanishing to her room.

Rahl stood at the window, looking out, staring into space. His mind circled around Dahlias report. His chest was burning with fury. But his brain worked razor-sharp on what he had heard. By and by everything got clear. Every little piece of the puzzle found its place in a general view.

All the months he had struggled against his brother; he was the one who had to be beaten to win the prize. To come to rule over the world of D´Hara AND the Midlands, he was the one who stood in his way. Richard Cypher, or Richard Rahl, the Seeker or however he may be named, was the threat he had fought so hardly.

But he had been totally wrong!

He had been a fool! In truth there was only one person who was able to stop him, who was to blame for every little backlash on his way.

_The Mother Confessor!_

From the very beginning it had been _her _who had made a fool of him! Since she had broken through the boundary she had been the one who stood at Richards's side, who saved him so many times, who had rescued him whenever he had failed. And only _she_ had the power to prevent him, the true Lord Rahl, to reach his goal… _She mocked at him!_

It was something more than her Confessor´s gift that made her so powerful. There was a certain secret on her; she manipulated people in a mysterious way. He couldn´t tell what it was, but people weren´t able to deprive themselves of her charisma. She had an inexplicable disposal of people…

His lips slowly curled into a smirk. His left brow lifted, his chin straightened. There was only one way to win:

He would capture the Mother Confessor and unravel her mystery, whatever it was. He would take this woman and let her serve him, whatever it might cost. He would be impregnable if she was on _his_ side!

His eyes glowed.

There was just one problem:

How should he manage to separate her from her companions? At least, all of them were really good warriors altogether…

And how should he convince her to follow him?

Was it even possible to break a Confessor?

...

Kahlan returned from collecting some herbs for their meal. When she approached the campsite after a while, she found Zedd and Richard sitting together at the fire and discussing the advantages of different weapons. Actually they were considering whether a dagger or a short sword would be of better use for young men´s training. Kahlan heard Zedd offer with a wide grin:

"Well, my son, I´m sure a dagger is the better option for young people. At least a dagger won´t make you stumble every few paces…"

Kahlan couldn´t help but give a low chuckle. Zedd was adverting on the day, when Richard had startled a pack of wild boars on their way. The little ones had squeaked in terror and had made a terrible noise. And their mother, an enormous wild sow, had attacked enraged immediately. Harum-scarum they had to fallback and at least, catching their breath at the edge of a ditch, Richard had turned to look afterwards and stumbled over his sword, which had loosened while running. He finally found himself sitting half in the water, half in the mud - and Zedd enjoyed very much to remind him of that…

Kahlan chuckled cheerily to herself. By now she could laugh at it. The day it happened they had no time for laughing – they had been on their way to find Cara…

Her gaze wandered over the campsite.

"Is Cara gone for a hunt?"

Richard grinned mischievously. "Zedd has presented her today's menu: crushed roots, followed by a root´s stew, and for dessert– sweet roots…She only rolled her eyes…" Richard showed an almost perfect imitation of Cara´s eye roll "and grabbed her bow. Now I´m sure she will not return until a miserable innocent hare has bitten the dust…" He gave a look of deep sorrow for the hare and Kahlan had to laugh again.

Laughing was easily these days. She felt good tempered and light and there was a certain confidence that things would come to a good end at least. Their beloved ones were with her. The weather was clear, there was a fresh scent of hope in the air and they hadn´t been attacked neither by banelings nor by any other creatures sent by the Keeper or by Rahl since nearly a week now. They got news where the stone of tears should be and soon they would find it and she would finally get the chance to return to Aydindril, with Cara. And Richard. And Zedd.

She was in a real good mood. Sometimes she stopped on her way, just to enjoy the sight of the very green hills, the smell of the wild flowers or the sound of the birds in the trees. She smiled often and when she turned to the others, they smiled back at her. Well, Cara tried to avoid her gaze, but when she walked beside her and stroke her arm softly, she received a smirk – or sometimes an eye roll - in return. But Kahlan enjoyed that she was able to touch her at all. Since Cara was back Kahlan felt closer to her then she had ever before. Though the blonde mostly showed a reserved attitude, Kahlan was sure that Cara felt a bit the same. She had continued to lay her mat next to Cara´s for the night. And while the Mord Sith stiffened every time when Kahlan settled beside her, she relaxed after a few moments and Kahlan could sense she felt at ease with it.

Kahlan smiled with the thoughts of Cara and turned around to give Zedd the herbs. Then she took her pack and searched for soap and a cloth.

"I´ll have a bath!"

"You think of the pool with the waterfall we saw?"

"Yes."

Richard rose and approached, grinning. "Good idea! Perhaps I should attend you?"

Kahlan dropped her head and chew her lower lip. This was exactly the contrary of what she wanted. She actually had intended to spend a time alone, just relaxing and clearing her mind…

She lifted her head with a mischievous smirk while shooting a short glance to Zedd and answered:

"Oh really Richard, this would be great! You and I, alone, we could have a funny time while you´re washing my back!" – a bit too excited, a bit too loud… She hadn´t to wait more than a second:

"No, my dears, this is definitely not a good idea!" Zedd shook his head, one brow climbing up his forehead and grumbled: "Richard is needed here to collect some wood for tonight – and you know _all too well,_ that I can´t leave you alone for having a bath together! You shouldn´t risk too much for one happy moment…"

Kahlan gave Richard a crooked smile and shrugged. "Sorry, Richard… but Zedd is right…" and already turning around: "I´ll be back soon!"

Richard sighed and shouted after her" Perhaps I´ll sent Cara to pick you up when she´s back!"

Kahlan stalled her steps, turning slowly and nodding with a bright smile: "Yes, that would be fine!" She waved to her men, then turned again and left.

As soon as she was behind the first trees she started chuckling again.

"_Good to know that I can always rely on you, Zedd" …_


	5. Touched

As usual: nothing belongs to me; just fan-fun

...

The basin was located in a spot upstream, where the water fell over a brim of the rocks in a wide and strong cascade, maybe two men´s length high. Where the water reached the bottom it had washed out and created a beautiful pool, wide enough to swim a few strokes, in the midst of an oasis of hundred different shimmering greens and blues. Wide blotches of flowering surrounded it like jewels on green velvet and butterflies and shot colored dragon flies were dancing beyond the surface. Golden beams of a lazily setting sun spotted through the trees, a few birds were rhapsodizing their evening concert…

A spot so beautiful, the Creator herself would have chosen for a break…

Kahlan´s soul exulted. She tipped a toe into the water and grinned.

_Even the waters are warmer since Cara is back…_

She laughed at herself while stripping. She had thought about Cara her entire way from the camp up to here.

Who would have estimated in the beginning, that this Mord Sith would ever grow that close to her heart?

When she recalled all the months she had travelled with Cara at her side, she felt impressed of the development the blonde has gone through. From their first confrontation, when they rescued the girls in the cave and Kahlan had threatened Cara with death for ever betraying Richard - to their combined captivity in the tomb, when Cara had called Kahlan a friend… She sighed. Spirits, what a long way had it been!

And every step of it had been worth it!

At least, Kahlan felt changed as well. She had learned a lot - more patience, more tolerance. She had never easily judged a book by its cover, but with Cara, unreadable for a Confessor, it was much more a challenge with all what she had been taught in her youth…She had gained new views of life, understood things better…and at least she had won a friend!

Yes, her life had enriched with the blonde…

Though to engage with a Mord Sith was not that easy; Cara demanded a lot from her and there were days, when Kahlan nearly went mad with the Mord Sith, with her stubbornness or her mockery. But there were the other days as well, when Cara was just adorable, detecting little life wonders; so loyal with her companions; so fearless and unselfish …and so beautiful…She gave so much back though she didn´t even notice it…

Kahlan made a face…She scolded herself, halfhearted; mocking; _"One could really think you´re head over heels in love…"_

She grinned amused. At last she had never experienced having a real friend before, except Dennee, but Dennee was her little sister; this couldn´t count. And…Cara…was just… very special!

And… she _was_ strong…a perfect warrior… _and_ …beautiful_… _

Kahlan glided into the water. She stroke strongly, enjoying the play with the water, and soon she reached the opposite bank and turned. She stopped in the midway, rolling on her back, drifting with the water for a while, listening to the bird´s songs, her eyes following the playful flights of the dragon flies. She felt a wonderful lightness, calm and easy. Drifting dreamily her hand reached out to caress lazily her own skin, sneaking down her arm, fondling over her hips, sliding softly over her belly…

Behind her closed eyes she imagined fully lips; a smirk…eyes of bright blue green under mocking brows_…Cara …_

…slowly her hands wandered gently over her stomach to her chest, to her breasts. A fingertip circling in very soft motion… Eyes closed, smiling, breath swelling, lost in the moment…

Remembering soft and fully lips, pressing gently on hers, a curious tongue teasing her own…

Kahlan felt her arousal growing; she hummed while her hand stroke slightly between her legs…

_How would it feel to touch a tanned skin like this?..._

A sudden little noise, like a pebble splashing into the water, disturbed her. Cringing frightened, she held her breath, appalled, and observed the edge around the pool. Inside her chest her heart pounded heavily. But she didn´t see or hear any movement around. There was nothing.

Kahlan stared for another moment and then sighed in relief. But the moment´s spell was broken.

She turned to her pack and grabbed her soap, then focused on the waterfall and swam over. Kahlan turned her back to the rock and dunked into the water cascade. It felt so cool and relaxing, her entire body enjoyed the strong fresh gush on her shoulders, refreshing her skin. And her mind.

- She didn´t notice the blink of red leather under the trees… -

Kahlan took a deep breath and dunked under. Drifted a little bit and came up in a short distance. Snorting she stroke strands of wet hair out of her face.

All of a sudden her heart stopped beating for an instant when a splash from behind startled her. There was a keen sarcastic voice growling into her neck made her hackles rise in an instant:

"Did your mom never tell you that it´s dangerous for little girls to swim alone in unknown pools in dark woods?"

Kahlan felt her blood vanishing out of her face, turning pale. A cold shiver ran down her spin. She clenched her jaw, her shoulders squared and slowly she turned around.

"Cara!" she shouted with a hiss.

"Kahlan!" the blonde mocked her.

"Spirits! Are you trying to kill me, Cara? My heart has almost stopped! … - Where do you come from?"

Cara was all smirks_. _

She pointed to the waterfall: "there is a niche inside;… didn´t you see my leather?"

Kahlan followed her gaze and finally recognized the red blur under the trees.

_What meant that Cara was completely naked! …_

Suddenly Kahlan felt very aware of their both bareness. And she blushed deeply... What if the blonde even watched her before?...She tried to drop her head, embarrassed, but her eyes didn´t obey, stopped on their way down, suddenly fixated in fascination on Cara´s lips. Cara´s heart swelled with the sight of her confusion; a warm, almost tender glow in her chest made her lips curling up slightly.

Unconsciously Kahlan´s eyes lowered almost automatically, without waiting for her brain´s admission, trailing a line from Cara´s jaws to her neck, down her chest, to her breasts and found them half covered from the water. Her breath came pressed through her lips.

Cara felt a heat rising inside her, swallowed a lump in her throat; a voice hissed alarmed inside her mind – _Distance, Cara! – _but she felt unable to step away though she knew she should. Her heart pounded unsteadily, and she clenched her fists under water, hoping that this could help her to keep controlled…She wasn´t able to turn her eyes from Kahlan´s, who had stepped closer while caressing her breasts with a fondly gaze, her labored breath reached Cara´s skin…

Lifting her eyes, locking with Cara´s gaze , Kahlan´s hands reached slowly out to grab Cara´s cheeks, led only by instinct, feeling the warm desire she had felt before, when she was drifting alone, now striking softly with her thumbs, her eyes darkened with tenderness, affection, and something else, that Cara couldn´t identify; all at once her fingers curled into Cara´s blonde wet hair, pulling her closer, pressing her lips gently on Cara´s, teasing tenderly, then licking her lower lip, gently chewing on it, playfully.

Cara couldn´t help but close her eyes as the sensation of the teasing softness overwhelmed her. A tiny stifled moan escaped her.

That was the moment, when Kahlan forgot all reason…The moment, when their lips crushed together.

Cara didn´t resist her kiss, neither her tongue, nor her hands gliding hungrily all over her skin. Cara felt dizzy, as if spelled by powerful magic. She couldn´t resist the mess of emotions whirling wildly through her mind. All her so well trained self-control vanished in an instant and to her own affright she heard her voice whisper: "I … love you…"

Kahlan paused. Her eyes widened in a sudden crash of realization, of facing the truth behind all her happiness of the last days, all the joy she had felt since the blonde had finally returned to her side. Cara only spoke out what she had truly felt the entire time since she was back_: _

"_oh, Spirits! I _am_ head over heels in love!"_

Kahlan broke her kiss as abruptly as she had set it. She shoved Cara away, staring at her with eyes wide in confusion, stunned and speechless. In this split of a second Kahlan´s world changed, everything turned upside down, her entire live needed to be redefined…

Puzzled with all her confusion, wheezing, she just turned away and stepped out of the water, not notifying the hurt look on Cara´s face, who followed her after a minute, head dropped, shoulders sacked, ashamed of the weakness that had grown in her, that had let her confess a fact, which she should never had admitted…

Kahlan didn´t see it, much too overwhelmed by her own feelings…

Kahlan was still at a loss for everything around her when she hurried to get into her clothes again. Turning around she could see Cara a few steps aside, with clenched teeth in concentration to fix all her leather stripes. Kahlans gaze was full with a warm and tender glow when she focused on the Mord Sith´s body, her well trained silhouette, her elegant and pliant motions, her still wet hair, shimmering golden in the last resting sunlight; and she wondered once more how she had never recognized the truth before. She was stunned by how she had fooled herself such a long time, pretending that it was merely honest sympathy, friendship at its best, which she felt for Cara.

She was the Mother Confessor! No one could lie to her! And she had betrayed herself! …

Well, that wasn´t the whole truth… She had known it, had recognized it when she had been eyeball to eyeball with her, in that battle, when she wasn´t able to confess her, even not for the price of her own life, _… - "she´s my life!..." - _and anyhow she had denied it.

She sighed in confusion. It was so surprisingly what the sudden insight did to her. She felt totally overjoyed, liberated and conscious of her feelings, now that she knew it was Cara who made her heart dance. Hammering inside her chest with the mere thought of her. She wanted to exult loudly by merely watching the blonde. Her entire mind yelled for going to her, holding her tight, kissing her, touching her; … she would never again let her go…

But in the same time she was very aware of the next consequences of the now visible truth… She felt the almost oppressive sensation of guilt, of treachery, when she thought of Richard. She felt a lump growing in her stomach when she imagined his face, twisted with pain when he heard the truth, when he would face the fact, that Kahlan´s heart didn´t belong to him anymore; that Kahlan even couldn´t tell if it had ever belonged to him, or if the whole romantic painted picture of their everlasting love hadn´t been a mirage since all the beginning;… created out of their duty and the exhausting, ever present responsibility for the world´s rescue;… meant to support the both of them…

It had felt good and right; but it simply wasn´t true…

And now the illusion had gone. She had to speak with Richard; Soon…

And she had to speak with Cara; Now!

Kahlan took a deep breath, collecting her entire love for her and approached the Mord Sith, who was still busy with her laces…

"Wait, I help you."Cara glared at her, but Kahlan shove her hands beside and tightened the last strip. She felt Cara´s gaze burning on her, clearly upset and hiding a hurt blink in her eyes. She struggled with a wave of sorrow, knowing that it was her fault that the blonde felt deeply hurt; Cara had admitted _feelings_ and Kahlan´s reaction must have felt like a punch in the gut…Kahlan could only hope that Cara would allow her to apologize…

"Cara" – the blonde turned away, freezed her off, but Kahlan could see her shoulders stiffening.

"Cara!" Her voice pleading softly. "Please, Cara, look at me. I´m… I´m so sorry!"

"There is no reason to be sorry, Kahlan;" Cara´s voice was husky. "I shouldn´t have spoken of it. Forget what I said. I wasn´t myself! - It is not important…" Kahlan could hear the mess of emotion in her voice, the mixture of barely controlled disappointment and suppressed bitterness.

"No,… no, Cara! _It is_ important! It is even the most important thing you´ve ever said.." and with a catch in her voice: "and … it was the most loveliest that I have ever heard… - I … I was just so surprised.. and I… I couldn´t… I mean…"

Cara focused on a point behind the waterfall. Her face was steely, she didn´t want to speak about it anymore. She only wanted to escape this place, to escape Kahlan and her own barely controlled emotions…

"As I said: Forget what I said! I´m clearly aware that it was ridiculous. And I swear, I will never talk about it again. And don´t worry, Richard will never come to know about it!"

Kahlan hissed in frustration. How could she ever show this blind and stubborn creature her real feelings, show her that she was truly in love with her…

She gripped Cara´s shoulders, turning her to hold her glance and tilted her head in a very slow motion, until her lips felt Cara´s again, very gently, very conscious! Cara tried to flinch, but gave up when Kahlan deepened her touch. When Kahlan loosened their kiss after a while she whispered:

"Richard will come to know about it Cara! Because I will tell him!" She smiled a little helplessly. " I don´t know why I didn´t recognize it before.. But I know that it is the truth! Cara, I love you too!"

Cara gave her a puzzled look, obviously pondering whether the Mother Confessor would play with her in such an evil way. Her furrowed brows needed a whole minute to relax, if only just a bit. She tried to read in the brilliant blue pools of Kahlans eyes, which had went watery, not hiding the smallest emotion…

Could this be true?

When she spoke again, her voice was unsure, questioning. "But, that is impossible…? Kahlan, you are Richard´s … How do you think that this should work? I mean…"

Kahlan hushed her.

"I am sorry Cara." She leaned her forehead on Cara´s and sighed deeply. "I have no idea how we will deal with it. And if I am honest, I´m afraid of Richard´s reaction… But whatever happens, there is nothing that could get in our way, Cara! We belong together! It may take a time, but we will find a way! Do you trust me?"

Cara seemed to think about her question, until Kahlan gave her a playful push. Smirking she nodded, "Well, seems I have no choice, no?"

Kahlan smiled at her, her eyes sparkling with love. "I believe in us! And if you do the same, we can move the world!" She kissed her again, this time she felt no resistance of Cara; then she sighed and remembered the growing dawn. She hated to leave…but there was no escape…

"We should return to the camp." Cara nodded and grabbed her pack.

Leaving the pool side by side, Kahlan ´s hand sneaked down Cara ´s arm, entangling their fingers, smiling with the squeeze she received…

When they were just half a mile away from their campsite, Khalan suddenly stopped, nervously chewing her bottom lip. Her heart was beating in her throat. Anxious to face Richard, knowing the truth but not knowing how to tell him…

Cara looked at her and frowned. "Are you alright, Kahlan?" Her voice worried. "We don´t have to tell him right now! We can wait. If it is not the right time… or… if you are not sure…"

"No, Cara! I am sure! I can´t wait too long. It wouldn´t feel right. But, … if I wait until tomorrow? It might be easier if I can take him beside while walking, not with Zedd nearby…!"

Cara nodded, hiding her deep unsureness behind a crooked smile. Kahlan held her hand strongly. "I believe in us Cara! Do you?"

Cara sighed, loosing herself in the bright glowing blue of Kahlan´s eyes. "How could I ever fail you?"

They smiled at each other, leaning in to share a last kiss before reaching their companions. When they parted, Cara saw Kahlan´s smiling lips forming the words _I love you_!

In the next second she saw her eyes breaking, and in the same breathtaking moment of understanding she realized the sound of an arrow, crashing into its aim. The world around her broke down in a sudden burst: Kahlan had been shot! The arrow had met her heart; she fell lifeless to the ground; her eyes, so very blue, couldn´t see the horror on Cara´s face. A second turned into eternity.

"No! Kahlan…" her voice scratched out of her mouth, she looked up and felt the next arrow meeting her shoulder, throwing her roughly against the next tree. She felt pain, felt blood sparkling out of the wound, but all she realized were Kahlan´s eyes, wide opened, staring into space, broken…Another arrow hit her leg, forced her to the ground. She felt hypnotized, not knowing why she should fight, how she should fight…

A rough touch with an agiel called her back to reality, forced her to focus on her enemy. They were nearly a dozen red clothed figures. Arduously focusing on the figure in red leather standing in front of her, she slowly recognized the face.

"Dahlia! - What have you done?" her voice a mere shadow of herself.

Dahlia stood straight, raised chin and squared shoulders. And yes, there was a self-contend smile on her face. "I told you, Cara! It would not be that easy! I ensure that you will never forget about me! I´ve killed your biggest enemy! Maybe you can see clearly without her, see were you belong in truth!

And till then, greet the Seeker! I got my revenge! And Lord Rahl wishes him all the best for his quest! He should hurry; the Keeper is on his trace."

With this words she stroke her agiel against Cara´s temple. Pain exploded in her head, though far from reaching the strength of the pain in her heart, thinking of Kahlan, it was strong enough to cover her bleeding heart with darkness….

t.b.c.


	6. Captured

**Thanks so far for your kind comments... It´s the butter on my bread **

**And again, as you already know: nothing of LOTS belongs to me; no money made, just fan-fun!**

...

She felt someone shaking her shoulders and slowly recognized it was Richard. He was yelling at her. She didn´t hear the words, but she saw his eyes, wide, full with worry. His face was twisted and slowly the world around his mad gaze came up from the blur…

Cara frowned and looked around, confused. Richard held her still in a firm grip and shook her heavily. Behind him she could see Zedd staring at her with eyes wide open, frightened. She tried to sit up and moaned. Her gaze barely realized the scenery in her surrounding. She was on the path which should lead them back to their campsite. She frowned. She had been with Kahlan at the pool…

In the dust beside her feet her eyes caught a lonely dagger …

Her brain suddenly restarted its work and crushed her down with the brutal realization of what had happened.

_Kahlan…_

She remembered Dahlia, her contemptuous grin, that hate in her eyes...

"_I have killed your hardest enemy…"_

Richard could watch how her face froze in shock.

"Damned, Cara! Talk to me! What happened with you? Where is Kahlan?"

Her eyes stared into space. Her mouth opened very slowly, "she…is dead…"

Richard stopped abruptly to jerk at her shoulders. His arms fell limply to his side. With a dump loud he slacked to the ground, stunned… Through the veil of her watery eyes Cara saw Zedd clapping horrified a hand to his mouth to hold his breath.

In the next moment her world twitched again into a whirling shadow before darkness covered her mind.

Cara couldn´t tell how the wizard had been able to bring them both back to the camp. Perhaps he had used a spell. She was sure that none of them had been able to walk on his feet. They sat in deep silence. Richard´s face was empty, his eyes red and swollen. He didn´t seem to realize the world around him. Zedd cowered on the other side of a miserable campfire. He held a cup of tea, which had gotten cold long ago and stared into space. Grieve and despair lay over the campsite like a dark and heavy fur choking every move down.

Cara felt stronger now. Her external wounds had healed immediately when Zedd used magical power. But inside her she felt her blood humming loudly through her veins, every heartbeat an unimaginable pain.

Cara knew pain, had felt so many different kinds of it in her life; she had learned to control them, to use their power…

But no pain in her entire life had prepared her for what she felt after regaining her consciousness ….

Her heart had been ripped out and blown into little bits and lay somewhere in the dust beside her feet…Her hands clenched her agiels, her knuckles white under her gloves. She tried to focus on the pain, on the thought of Kahlan. She tried to control it and to win her reasoning back…

Much later Zedd was the one who spoke first. His voice was rough and low.

"Richard you should lay down and sleep a few hours. You need to rest. We have to leave early in the morning…"

Cara stared at him. Leave? To where would they leave?

Zedd caught her gaze and started to explain:

"We had a visitor, while you and…" he swallowed; "while you were gone. Shota was here. She appeared as usual out of nothing. She had a new vision and wanted to share it with us.

If she is right, the Keeper and the Sisters of the Dark are close on our heels. It looks like there is no time to waste if we want to find the Stone of Tears before they do. Shota told she saw the place where the Stone is to be found…"

He shot a worried look to Richard.

"… She also said that Richard would be alone on the path to the Stone…"

"Zedd, she would have told us if she had spoken of Kahlan´s death!" Richard pressed out.

Zedd watched him in deep sorrow.

"Richard, we have to face the fact that she won´t come back. Kahlan would never have wanted…"

An angry voice interrupted him.

"She ´s not dead!" Cara´s first words since hours made them both whirl around and stare at her.

"Cara…" Richard frowned, couldn´t see what she meant.

„She´s not dead!" Cara shook her head decidedly.

Richard looked at her with watery eyes.

"But, you said you´ve seen…"

"_She is - not - dead!"_ She repeated stubbornly in a harsh voice. "Can´t you see it? That is why she left _me _unconscious. I shouldn´t see them giving Kahlan the breath of life. They wanted me to _believe_ she´s dead. I should tell you that. If we are convinced of her death, we won't haunt them but go on for the Stone of Tears and they can bring her to Rahl, without been followed."

"How can you be sure about that? Dahlia hated Kahlan! It was her personal revenge to kill her!" Zedd asked in disbelieving, his brows furrowed.

Cara stared at him with angry eyes.

"If Dahlia´s intend was only to murder her, she would have left her body to show you she had taken bloody revenge, and to aggrieve you even more then with my simple report … And she would have killed me too. Just to ensure that I couldn´t bring her back. The fact that I´m still alive proofs that Kahlan is too!"

She turned to Richard: "Rahl needs you to find the Stone of Tears and close the veil. He is afraid of the Keeper´s revenge. That is why he can´t risk you to follow Dahlia..."

Richard breathed heavily, focusing on Cara´s theory, considering. Zedd´s eyebrows had risen, but he nodded very slowly. They shared a glance and Richard jumped up, a glint of hope in his eyes:

"Then what are we waiting for? We can still catch them. We have to start to…"

"Richard!" Zedd stood beside him, laying a hand on his shoulder to hold him back. "You have heard Shota. We have no time to go after them! I´m sorry, son, but we can´t rescue her AND find the Stone of Tears in time!" He squeezed his shoulder sadly. "You know I love her like a daughter! But the quest is more important than any of us…"

"No, Zedd!" he interrupted the wizard enraged and shook his hand off. "I can´t allow them to escape with her! We will not abandon her! We can´t!" his voice broke, he stared at his grandfather, stirred up, not believing that Zedd refused to help Kahlan.

"She always knew that the quest comes first, Richard. Confessors know the risk they take joining the Seeker." Zedd´s voice was low and shuttered with sorrow. "She wouldn´t want to be the one for whom´s sake the world would perish…"

"_I_ will follow them!" The men turned around in surprise. Cara had raised, standing straightly; her face was steely, her gaze glowed grimly decided. She looked up at Richard:

"Don´t try to detain me, Richard. You once gave me the chance to decide whether I follow you or leave… Now I will leave!"

"Cara…"

"No, I will not discuss it! You have to go on for the Stone. But I am free in my decision; that is what you told me! Right?" He nodded.

"Then let me go! I swear I will find her!"

Not waiting for an answer Cara grabbed her pack and glanced at the men.

"I wish you good luck!"

Richard placed his hand on her shoulder with a desperate look, sighing under his breath. He was torn between his quest and the urgent needing of rescuing Kahlan. But he knew that Zedd was right.

"Same for you, Cara! Please, find her! I know if anyone can, it is you!...

We will see us all again!" His voice broke. Zedd didn´t say anything, just stared at her with watery eyes and nodded good bye.

They had been on their horses the whole night trough. Kahlan felt deeply exhausted, but tried to not show it. She felt the horse trotting carefully behind its companion. She was tied to the saddle; a keen metallic thing around her neck seemed to be a Rada´Han and a dark band over her eyes detained her from recognizing who had captivated her. But the low creaking sound of leather had told her soon, that they were Mord Sith. And Kahlan could have sworn that Dahlia was the one in charge. Perhaps it had been the sharp aura of hate that Kahlan felt sneaking under her skin that betrayed Dahlia, even though she hadn´t spoken a single word.

Kahlan had been dizzy when she had restarted to breathe after her return from the underworld, tied and blindfolded. First she wasn´t able to puzzle out what had happened. She remembered Cara´s face, their kiss, and then a sudden hard blow in her back. The next she saw were dead bodies in green glowing light. The realization of being dead had been frightening. It couldn´t be true! Her life had just restarted. She remembered her eyes flickering around to search for Cara, but she wasn´t there. So if Cara was alive, she would give her the breath of live! She would return, Cara just needed a few moments to strike their attackers…

And indeed she had felt her heart restart beating after a short while and the urgent need to fill her lungs with fresh air; the view had changed from glowing green – into a deep darkness under her blindfold. Kahlan had suppressed her horror that it wasn´t Cara who had given her the breath of life. She could feel her nearby but she couldn´t tell if the blonde was alive… There were only a few words murmured between her attackers. She had heard something like "..tell the Seeker…"that she could not identify while she was roughly shoved on the horse back and tied to the saddle. So she concentrated on wearing her Confessor´s face even under the blindfold and used the passing time to consider the new development.

When they finally stopped for a rest someone pulled her gruffly from the horseback. She felt herself tumbling to the ground and picking herself up with her tied hands needed a second. Gloved hands pulled the rag from her eyes and she had to blink a few times against the sudden light.

She was surrounded by nearly a dozen Mord Sith who stood alarmed but motionless, staring at her, their agiels ready to strike.

In front of her she saw Dahlia. With raised chin and a lifted eyebrow she looked clearly contend with herself. Dropping with scorn, her voice reached Kahlan´s ear:

"It is an honor to have you as our guest, Mother Confessor. Surprised to see me? I really hope the way was not too pleasant for you?"

Kahlan could barely suppress a Cara-like eye roll at her words.

"I am sorry to disappoint you Dahlia. It is not a bit a surprise to see you. I knew in the first minute who is the chicken-hearted Mord Sith that had to shoot me from behind to captivate me."

Dahlias eyes darted flashes, her lips were small lines while Kahlan gave her a smart smile.

"So let´s get it over with it: What do you want from me?"

Dahlia approached slowly and stared Kahlan directly into her eyes. Kahlan could see the hate whirling inside her, could sense it sliding razor-sharp through the air she breathed. She clenched her jaw.

"I´ve come to take revenge, Confessor! First I´ve taken you from your beloved. There is no one to come for your rescue… The Seeker is bound to his quest, you are alone, hopeless! " Her voice purred smugly.

"Next, I will see how strong the Mother Confessor is in fact… You will suffer, Kahlan…"

Dahlia showed a wide grin.

"I have won, Confessor! Your life belongs to me!"

Kahlan furrowed her brows and looked at her, stunned. She saw Dahlia narrowing her eyes and turning pale when she finally laughed out loud.

"Oh Dahlia! Do you really think I am _silly_ enough to believe your words? _You_ are here because the maniac Rahl _ordered_ you. If you would be _allowed_ to torture me, you would have started with it right after giving me the breath of life! But it seems to me that Rahl don´t want me to be injured. And you can´t do a step without his permission! And why did we hurry the whole night through? I tell you: _you are deeply afraid_ that someone will follow us! That is why we were splashing long time through water; you hoped to cover our tracks.

Your revenge is just a gutless murder from behind? Isn´t it a little bit low-grade? Poor Dahlia! And you even can´t enjoy it because you´re ordered to bring me to Rahl; _alive_! "

Dahlias face was painted in a deep red. She barely controlled her rage. And that her sisters witnessed Kahlan´s scoff nearly made her mad. But Kahlan did not stop speaking, mocking…

"And you are so much mistaken, if you think I am hopeless! You don´t know the first thing about friendship, and even nothing about love!

Be sure, even if Richard really can´t, Cara _WILL_ come for me! And you know that!"

Dahlia draw back. Her expression was evil; her face burnt with ferocity. She stood straight and proudly before Kahlan and a cruel smile curled her lips slowly up:

"Your precious Cara…IS DEAD!" She turned and went to her horse, snapping a few orders to her sisters…

Kahlan stared at her back. The echo of her words hammering in her ears. Suddenly the loud hum of her racing blood floated her brain. Her stomach revolted.

No, this could not be true! Cara was not dead! Cara _could_ not be dead!

The shock caught her breath. She felt her knees buckle and she dropped slowly to the ground.

It took Kahlan a few minutes, before she was able to clear her mind bit by bit. She breathed deeply, taking as much of the fresh air in as possible. She listened to her heavily pounding heart, wondering how it could still do its work.

She tried desperately to recall the moment of her resurrection. She had been bound and blindfolded, couldn´t see if Cara was there. But she remembered the very strong feeling of Cara being there.

Kahlan closed her eyes, creating the same darkness that had surrounded her when she had taken her first breath after the attack. The impressions she had had came slowly back to her mind. The recognition that she was bound, that the darkness was caused by a blindfold. She smelled a faint scent of Cara very nearly. The hint of blood that was mixed with it. She felt prodded by gloved hands… - and then she heard it again in her mind, the murmured question of a Mord Sith:

"What about her?" – and Dahlias low answer: " We leave her here. She can tell the Seeker that she´s dead!..."

Kahlan listened closely to the memory and finally sighed in relief. That was what she would stick to. Dahlia tried to harm her, she just told lies.

Cara was alive… and she would come after them. And she could leave her a sign that she waited for her!

The Mord Sith were preparing their departure. None of them saw Kahlan twitching at her clothes until she had a small piece of fabric from her undergarment in her hand.

This time Kahlan was not blindfolded when they left. This too proofed to Kahlan that Cara had been left behind, maybe unconscious, but alive, and she should not been given the chance to notice it…

When they left, Kahlan shot a short glance to the tree she had been leaned to, where she knew a small piece of fabric hidden that would brighten up Cara´s day…

"_Come on Cara! Please, be careful – but hurry up! I´m waiting for you…"_

_t.b.c._


	7. Resolved

**I still own nothing and no one... No business - just fanfun :)**

**...**

Cara didn´t stop to rest. She snatched water while running and she forgot eating. Her eyes kept focused on the trace the Mord Sith had left behind. Only by concentrating onto the path she had the faint feeling of keeping more or less controlled. Her mind turned out to be tricky enough to distract her unavoidably whenever she let her thoughts run free. Then they rushed immediately to a beautiful face, softly framed by dark brown, and tender lips, whispering "I love you!" - and every time they did so, it ended with the sudden horror when bright blue eyes broke… and every time Cara couldn´t help a hushed moan while her heart clenched a bit tighter…

She kept racing for the whole night and through the following morning; never resting; never feeling her own exhaustion. But even though her condition seemed to be endless, even though she was a strong and powerful Mord Sith, she knew she wasted time by running on foot after horse riders. Too much time! Time that Kahlan didn´t have…

She decided to obtain a horse.

Around midday a certain smell in the air made her pause. She cocked her head and lifted an eyebrow. Her nostrils flared, proofing the scent. There was a smell of roasted flesh in the air, and given to the lack of farms there should be a campsite nearby.

It didn´t take her long to pinpoint it on a small clearing. With a smirk full of expectation she approached cautiously. What she found were three travelers sitting around a low crackling fire; a small rabbit roasting atop of it. The mere sight made her stomach growl angrily. She frowned; it had been a while since she had had her last meal - was it two days? - and she half grinned, remembering how Kahlan had bantered Zedd about making such a fuss of the simple stew he had whipped… she could see Kahlan´s warm, slightly mocking smile, but then frowned when her heart stitched painfully …

_Spirits, how was it even possible, that she could miss her so tremendously! _

With a sigh she bucked up to focus back on her view. Inferring from their loaded wagon the men seemed to be simple salesmen. The blonde strained her eyes, looking out for their weapons. But obviously there was no need to worry: all they had were their knives and a simple bow that leant against a tree, too far away to become dangerous in a sudden…

Her gaze traveled their surroundings, smirking as she found three horses grazing under the trees. Two of them were beefy, stocky, brown animals; obviously the ones to pull the wagon. The third one was a fox red athletic mare, well trained and wearing saddle and bridle, ready to start. The Mord Sith grinned contently and without any more hesitation she stepped into the campsite.

"I want your horse!" she snarled shortly between her teeth, pointing to the mare. Three heads flashed around, startled by the sudden sight of a Mord Sith, standing straight with cocked head and feisty eyes, brows furrowed, daring them, agiels ready in her wrists. Though she wasn´t even aware of it Cara´s entire expression was nothing but a blunt threat. Glaring at them with steely eyes, jaw set; and waiting impatiently for an answer …

The men had risen, clearly scared to the bones; the two behind the fire seemed unable to move or to say anything at all. Their eyes were wide in horror and their chops had dropped to their chests. Cara rolled her eyes, turning to the third, who seemed to be the only one who was accessible.

He was; but that meant as well, that he had decided to do something against their obvious assaulter: he was just stepping forward to bumbling attack her with a ridiculous small knife. Cara cursed and stabbed him with her agiel in a quick turn; green eyes flashing in anger were his last view before he yowled and then fainted …

Cara took a step back and looked at him thunderously. Her mind brimming with anger, inside her chest she felt slowly raising the mood to fell them all. After all the opportunity to release all her pent-up rage on these fools would be really welcome somehow …

Though despite her anger she shot the remaining two just a murderous look from under her lashes and snorted disgustfully:

"What is it with you, guys? I´m asking a courteous question and instead of receiving a proper an answer I am attacked? I have no time for playing games with you, do you understand me? I only want your horse, not your lives! So, is there anyone else to object?"

At last one of them found his voice and stammered: "N…No, it will be f…fine! Take w…what you w…want …" His friend fiercely nodded at his side… Cara lifted both her eyebrows and then shrugged and turned to the horse. On the way she grabbed the mini-knife of the still faint salesman and headed to the fire.

"I´ll take his portion…" she pointed to their still unconscious companion, not expecting their protest. " I am sure _he_ will have other worries than hunger when he awakes…"

And while snipping with the wanna-be-knife she murmured under her breath: "Cretin! What did you think? This cannot bite a roasted rabbit and you try to kill a Mord Sith with it…"

Reaching the mare, the half rabbit in one hand, she hurried into the saddle and was almost gone, but then she stopped, hesitating. She turned around, frowning deeply, and stared at the men thoughtfully, who still felt unable to move under her glare, terrified by the mere thought she could return…

After a second or two of consideration with clenched jaw, Cara finally huffed frustrated, as if giving in on a silent argument and poked cumbersome in her pack. She threw a few coins to them and turned again.

"Take a drink on the weal of the Mother Confessor" she murmured, storming away.

She had already made a long way, glad that the horse was in a good condition, when she reached the water and the trail was lost. The small stream went from northwest to the south and Cara rode a mile in both directions, but the traces didn´t pop up again…

She hissed in frustration, forced herself to focus on the possibilities. Where would Dahlia go – and why?

Dahlia was a dammed good strategist. She had ever been. And she had her orders from Rahl. So where would she go?

"_Think, Cara!"_

South? Cara´s eyes scanned the way down the stream thoughtfully. She knew what was lying there. It was a wide, plane area, a few bright forests and a handful of villages that had joined the resistance in former times. Located in a distance that would be a seven-days-ride she remembered a Mord Sith temple; she knew it from former times, when she had been there in order of her Lord Rahl. From there they had started to attack the villagers in the surroundings and made an example on those who refused loyalty to Darken Rahl… But as she had heard, it had been plundered and abraded after Rahl´s death. The villagers had taken bloody revenge.

It would be hard for a horde of Mord Sith and a tied Mother Confessor to hunker down and vanish in this area. And Darken Rahl was hated, couldn´t hide there anyway…

She turned to the other side.

So to the north! This direction promised to get forbidding and bitter… Behind the slow growing hills she could see the dark shadows of cliffy sheer rock walls, the outer edge of a proud range that seemed just to await a group of deadly decided Mord Sith and their captive to give them a secret hideout.

Deep inside her brain something stirred, a sense of seeing something familiar, something she should remember… Cara focused and tried hard to catch the thought that had flown feather-like through her mind for only a heartbeat. Her eyes narrowed, she gritted her teeth in concentration, trying to fix the memory that flickered through her mind…And then it popped up.

The Hidden Castle!

The secret castle had been Rahl´s hideout in former times. Impregnable, cryptic; Lying on the first ridges of a drearily mountain range. Not easy to be found, hidden in the cliffs of the mountains, assimilating its colors and forms.

A cursed place that was known only by a handful of Rahl´s most trusted counsels, and by the unfortunates, who had been invited for "proceedings", most of them never returning to their former lives…

And by a few Mord Siths, like Cara, who had served their Lord Rahl, executing his orders to convince his guests of their loyalties…

She had spent there several months, but Rahl had been in the Peoples Palace at this same time. Did he even know that Cara knew the Hidden Castle? Did Rahl remember that Cara had been there? If so, it could be a trap, again…

But if not, he didn´t expect her to know the secrets of the Hidden Castle. He would be convinced, that Kahlan couldn´t be found there… Her lips slowly curled into a dark grin.

Not wasting her time, she forced her horse into the water, heading north. The thought of Kahlan, being under Dahlia´s thumb was all that mattered. Nothing else was important. She felt her concern for the Confessor claiming her mind aggressively, eating her away with every step the horse splashed through the stream…

The growing shadows hindered her view more and more. They almost concealed the spot, when she passed the place where hoofs had stamped the sludgy ground on the left bank. It wasn´t more then a shadow as she blinked her eyes but in the nick of time she reined the horse and peered at it. Taking a deep breath it took a load off her mind, a part of the pressure swept away from her shoulders and she sighed in relief. This was what she had needed, the sign, that her decision had been right!

"Can you see that?"she patted the horse´s neck in a rare impulse of softness, a wide grin on her lips... Her eyes had narrowed and gleamed, brimming with confidence. "We will find them! No more reasons to waste time… Come on, lady, it´s time it´s up to you now; show me your strength…" She let out a short cry and set spurs to the chestnut…

Finally she reached the small clearing of Dahlias first rest with the last glowing sunlight. The paltry grass on the ground was trampled down from hoofs and boots. A frayed leather strap lay thrown under a bush and a gnawed bone of an unlucky rabbit shimmered in the edge of the shadows.

A heavy sense of nervousness seemed to suddenly weigh heavily on her chest. Cara dismounted to inspect every detail of this place. Her stomach squirmed excruciating while she scanned the spot. Every broken twig, every footstep on the green and every single blade of grass could tell her the truth.

The truth of Kahlan really being alive or …

With gritted teeth she checked the clearing attentively, working herself inch per inch along the grounds. Time went by but no sign of Kahlan popped up, nothing proofed that a living Kahlan had been with them. Cara stubbornly refused to give up, searched a second and then a third time in the bushes and under the trees, curiously watched from the big brown stoic eyes of her horse.

It was just by a fluke – or perhaps it was the Creator´s will – that a dying sunbeam touched the spot in the exact moment when Cara stared at it. She froze on the spot, feeling a lump settling itself in her throat, her limbs refusing their work. She just stared.

Under the tree something white flashed; a tiny shimmer, half covered with leaves and grass; not more than a hint of white…

Her blood pounded loud and heavily through her veins, her knuckles under the gloves where white, gripping her agiels firmly to ground herself, while she approached it. She slowly went to her knees, liberating her fingers from the leather and fumbling unsurely over the ground…

When she lifted her trove and looked at it she couldn´t hold her breath no longer. A dry sob was mixed with a happy laughter, coming over her lips in the same instant. A small piece of white, silky fabric lay in her hand, dusty and frazzled, but for Cara it was the most precious and beautiful frazzle she had ever seen. She glared at it, motionless, and finally she closed her eyes, pressing it to her heart with a low moan.

Kahlan was alive! Cara hadn´t fooled herself!

Cara didn´t notice the lonely tear running down her cheek. She chuckled and sniveled and pressed her lips on the dirty fabric.

The horse gave a low snuffle, puzzled by the strange sounds of her happiness and she turned to it, presenting the rag, shouting with a husky laugh:

"She is alive! Do you see this? Kahlan… she is alive!"

Yes, Kahlan was alive! And she knew that Cara was on her trace; she had left this tiny little piece as a message. It told her that she trusted in Cara, that she knew, she would come for her and that she waited for her…

For the first time since Dahlia had knocked her out, Cara felt something like ease. She would find Kahlan, she would free her and whoever would stand in her way, she would eliminate him – or her! And if she would have so much as a scratch when she found her, they ´d be sorry! All of them!

Cara rested on the clearing for the night. She needed a few hours of sleep, planning to hurry on with the first sunlight. For a longtime she lay on her back, staring up to the stars in a velvety dark sky, trembling slightly, imagining eyes of a bright blue, locking with her own and soft lips, whispering "I love you too";

A wave of exhaustion finally swept her away into a bumpy sleep. A white frazzle safe under her leather, next to her heart…

- Just a little more than a half-day ride ahead, bright blue eyes were staring up to the same stars in the same velvety darkness, longing desperately for a blonde Mord Sith, sending a pray to the Creator, a plea to protect Cara and guide her…

t.b.c.


	8. Chained

**I´m happy to see that you like it. Thank you so much for your kind reviews! It´s pure motivation !**

**As usual:** Nothing of LotS belongs to me (such a pity!) - no business, just fan-fun

...

It was the fourth night of her captivity and they had been on their horses from sunrise to sunset and even half the night through... Dahlia had forced them to hurry and the few stops they had made were only meant to give the horses a rest, to take a quick meal and some hours of sleep for some of them, while the others were keeping watch. She had spent all their rests tied to a tree, not joining their meal. Instead Dahlia had only granted her a handful of nuts or an apple now and then and even from the water skins she got only the absolute necessary.

What she got more than she needed were occasional hits with her agiel; Dahlia used to blow unforeseeable and on false pretenses…

Kahlan endured it without any visible sign of suffering, though her black marked back witnessed her pain and her thirst in particular, growing over the days, almost made her mad; as well as her tied hands in combination with the keen metal ring on her skin, blocking the familiarity of her power, caused panic eat her mind away again and again...But all she displayed for her captors was a straight stance, head held high, and her stoic confessor face.

- Except for these moments of true pleasure when she seized the chance to deride Dahlia...

And Kahlan used every opportunity to do so; every unsure move, if ever so faint; every gaze scanning the way they came from and every word she heard from the Mord Sith gave her an opening for a fleer. It didn´t matter, what it was about.…Kahlan had quickly noticed how Dahlia enraged with every scoffing word she let out; how her sisters watched them both and some lips curled up covertly from time to time;

It was the only little weapon she had against Dahlia, and she handled it masterfully, sharply and purposeful; she hit the bull´s-eye with every word.

She always paid the prize for her flout - an angry agiel, snapping at her back like a vicious dog, ever so painful that she hissed through gritted teeth but never truly injuring her. If she was lucky, she received just an enraged slap in her face that had her twice nearly fall from her horse. And she was quite sure that much worse treatment would be waiting for her whenever they would come to reach their destination and Dahlia would finally indulge in the chance to dedicate herself completely to her treatment…

She knew, it wasn´t prudent to anger her at all; it was a dangerous play, like poking a rattle snake; she was aware of the risk, knew the bite would come, furiously and banefully - but she simply wasn´t able to resist. It was so easy nettling her with a few words, letting them bite sharply into Dahlias mind; and it was pure satisfaction to watch her, falling in a helpless, barely controlled anger, losing her composure – and losing tiny bits of the respect of her sisters…

Something that Kahlan planned to use against her when time had come…

They finally had reached the mountains and the night was getting cold. The Mord Sith didn´t light a fire despite the chill, gnawing at them. Fire meant light; and light meant to be visible in the darkness; and Dahlia carefully avoided attracting attention from whoever could be around…

This night Kahlan lay on the bare ground as trees were lacking in their camp. The scenery had changed into a raw, rocky territory, which was a crabby host for the pack of Mord Sith and their captive… Their path seemed to lead to nowhere; they were surrounded by cliffy ridges, towering their camp, suspiciously staring at them. No sign of a palace or a temple where the Mord Sith could bring her…

Kahlan didn´t have the faintest idea, where Dahlia guided them; there was nothing that seemed to serve as a destination. But she didn´t care no more. She was glad to get a rest, to stretch her jaded limbs and get a few hours of sleep… Exhaustion was a chance for alleviation. This night she would not think about a cold metal ring around her neck, taking her powers and leaving a sense of deadly emptiness; she would not allow that her childish memories of being tied would tantalize her in nightmares. She would simply close her eyes - and allow her mind the rare luxury to wander…

Behind her closed eyes melancholic memories of other nights entered her mind. She thought of Richard on the opposite of a campfire, smiling softly his affectionate smile for her. His brown eyes embracing her, hanging on her lips…

She still felt an intimacy for him that would certainly never vanish. He was the man who had been the first one to get over the walls of her self-restraint. Who had woken the need of feeling closeness and affection, of being a woman and not all a Confessor. He was the one who had taught her, guided her into a world, where she no longer had to deny the feminine part under her Confessor´s dress. He had let her discover that beside her duties and her power there lived a hidden girl inside her, shy and unsure of herself. Richard had taken this girl into the light, had given her the hope that love was not only to be feared, but to be welcomed and enjoyed… a warm gift in a cold world…

He was the one who had dreamed of a normal life with her at his side…

Kahlan had given up on believing her live was bound to him…She sighed. He deserved better treatment then what she was able to offer… She had started to move away from him long before she had even recognized it...She owed him to be honest.

If she would ever see him again, she knew, she would break his heart. The mere thought of it made her own heart bleed in sorrow, but she would have to give him free, even against his own will. She would never lie to him, pretending to be his mate, while her heart belonged to someone else…

Another sigh found its way over her lips...

At least... if she would never see him again… he wouldn´t suffer the loss of her love…perhaps this would even be a mercy…

Kahlan suddenly held her breath…

But if so, she would never see into the deep emerald of Cara´s eyes again... -

Her heart skipped a beat, thinking this unthinkable thought…

A lonely tear stole its way out of the corner of her closed eyes… No, this could not happen! She would not allow this to happen! Clenching her jaw she vowed soundless to fight, to stand against whatever might wait at their destination. And she would be ready when Cara would come for her. She wouldn´t fail her, certainly not! ...

The vision of the night when Cara had sent Dahlia away shoved into her mind. The fire, Cara´s soft lips slightly pressing on hers... their first kiss... that overwhelming sensation of tenderness and …

"I wonder what it is, that makes you smile despite your hopelessness" a low voice interrupted her thoughts.

Kahlan´s eyes snapped open to meet the curious scrutiny of dark brown ones. They belonged to the youngest of her captors, a small person, not even old enough to be called a woman; a girl with dark brown hair and a sad, pointed face. Kahlan had noticed her before though she had never spoken a single word; she had caught the girl a few times watching her covertly, observing her quietly when she was taunting Dahlia and bearing the blows she received.

Her face was a fitted mask of callousness; but she had a water skin in her hands and offered it to Kahlan. Though Kahlan´s face had frozen in distrust she snapped the water and sat up, quaffing it gratefully. Her eyes firmly held the gaze of the younger, whose expression flickered with short hints of wonder and amazement. She watched the girl expectantly.

"You are different than others were. I mean… Don´t you fear her? … She afflicts you; … there is no way for you to escape her… She has you in her grip! - And you… still _provoke _her…Don´t you know what she´s able to?..." her eyes stared at her, openly, trying to understand her behavior, but not succeeding in doing so. "Once we arrive… she will … torture you…" her last words were pressed between gritted teeth, a shadow seemed to flicker over her young face, but she managed to calm into inexpressiveness again in a split second.

Anyone but Kahlan wouldn´t have noticed. But Kahlan tilted her head at her words. Her eyes narrowed in compassion, her heart twitched slightly, feeling the despair of a tattered soul. What she saw was a Mord Sith, a weapon of the dark Lord Rahl, and yet, that was not the whole truth…This girl was no monster, she had suffered pain and torture and soon the last resting piece of her true essence would probably vanish, sacrificed in a dark bloody dungeon to a maniac. But here and now she was more an unhappy child than a fierce warrior…Kahlan didn´t even know her name, but she felt a sudden need to hug her and console her as if she were the young girl that she should have been…

"Martine!"Dahlia´s sharp voice made the girl cringe and bow her head. "Yes Mistress?"

"Go and watch for the horses. You won´t sleep tonight."Her voice was keen and threatening. And then, growling into the girl's ear, pointing to Kahlan:

"Stay away from her! This woman is...y_our_ _worst nightmare_! If she only could... she would kill you without hesitation. She is a _MONSTER_! She is not worth your speech! You will never talk to her again_. Do you understand me?_ NEVER! "– Martine dropped her head even lower and murmured devotedly: „Yes Mistress. "

Her cold gaze holding Kahlan´s she shoved Martine away. She approached Kahlan with a dark smirk and purred with an eyebrow lifted in arrogance:

"This is your last night under the stars, Confessor! You should enjoy it. Who knows if you will see them again…"

Coming down to one knee, she lifted Kahlan´s chin with her forefinger in an almost tender motion,

"Tomorrow I´ll have you in the Hidden Castle and until Lord Rahl´s arrival... _you´ll be mine!" _she growled, leering to Kahlan; almost hungrily her gaze swept over Kahlan´s form and she could feel a cold shiver running down her spin as Dahlia´s hand came up to stroke her cheek, a vicious gleam glowing in her eyes.

She patted the Confessor sarcastically, before finally leaving with a chuckle on her lips.

She missed the sudden smirk on Kahlan´s lips.

Watching her adversary walk away, Kahlan felt a satisfaction rising in her mind… To reach their destination meant stop hurrying, and that meant that Cara would finally approximate…

She lay back and stared at the sky above. Before she finally closed her eyes, feeling the wave of exhaustion sweeping her away, she whispered a vow up to the stars, a promise that would be anchored deep in her mind and would hold her up, no matter what the next days would bring…

"I _will _see you again! And when I will, Cara will be with me!"

Sunrise had found them already on their way. Dahlia had ordered them impatiently to hurry even before dawn. Now, that the sun had started to lower again, they found themselves at the foot of a rocky wall, the path apparently going lost behind a few bushes to their right…

Dahlia dismounted and the others did the same. Kahlan shot an irritated look around, when Dahlia bawled her out:

"Get off the horse, Confessor! From here on you will hoof it…"

Kahlan dismounted slowly, scanning the large, almost vertical cliffside, wondering where they would head now…there was nothing but coarse rock.

The horses were unsaddled and some of the sisters started to take saddles and bridles away, towards a small, dark grey mark in the wall, that Kahlan drudgingly identified as a cave´s entrance, well hidden behind a ledge.

She had no time to watch any longer. Roughly forced from behind with the inevitable poke of an agiel she had to follow the path through the bushes on her right, as closely connected to the rocky barrier that her shoulder almost scratched against it. The path ended after a few minutes in front of a massive outcrop of about ten men´s height. Beside it, the next wall expanded into the sky.

Kahlan stopped and turned around, her eyes questioning…

Dahlia stood a few steps behind her, showing a scoffing grin. "What are you waiting for, Confessor? Get up there - don´t dare slowing us down! "

Next to Kahlan, the first Mord Siths started to climb up the rock in quick conversant moves. She just stared at them in disbelieve, but the familiar pain of a harsh agiel pushed her forward and she took a deep breath and followed them.

Her tied hands made it a great effort to gain height. Soon her muscles ached and her breath turned into a wheeze. She slipped several times, desperately searching for the next grip, while some of the Mord Siths, much more free to move with both of their hands free, smirked and taunted her. Kahlan gritted her teeth, refusing to mind their mockery. When she finally reached the top, dripping with sweat, bloody welts on her bare skin where rough stone had scratched her, breathing heavily, she caught the fleeting flash of sorrow in the dark brown eyes of the young Mord Sith, quickly turning away as she noticed her glance…

Behind the giant rock, just a little lower, the small path continued, leading through bushes and rocks, steeply rising along the wall. They slowly half-circled the mountain. Finally they reached the backside – and Kahlan´s eyes widened in surprise; the sight caught her breath:

Their path had let them out of the bushes into a craggy sugarloaf lump of rock. Just by now, she could suddenly identify these rocks as handmade walls of the border of a castle, rising behind them, perfectly adapted to the cliffy ridges of the mountains. It lay on the edge of the mountain, overlooking the southern hills where they had come from, but untraceable for possible gatecrashers or travelling salesmen. No single hint of color distracted the eye, no plants, no banners, no ornaments; all simply grey as the natural stone it was build of. It was practically melting into the mountain, an impressive building where windows were lacking; strong walls, only cut by small crenels, not offering the tiniest loop-hole...

All over the castle Kahlan acknowledged masses of soldiers, maybe two hundred of them; chunky, coarse men, emanating pure aggression and cruelty. They wore d´Haran uniforms; obviously the last standing army of the resurrected Lord Rahl…

Behind her non-betraying Confessor mask Kahlan could feel despair rising in her chest. With her jaw clenched and a fiercely worried heart she followed her captors into the castle. Her eyes threw a last glance to the path behind them, struggling hard against the tears that were threatening to flood her walls. Thinking of Cara; imagining the strong and powerful blonde she knew somewhere out there…

_But this…is impossible! ... Even Cara will not be able to conquer this castle without losing her life_…Her heart seemed to slacken its beats...

With every step she made Kahlan felt losing her hope, dropping out of her onto the floor, leaving her heart tightening around its emptiness…

...

„Proof them!" Dahlia pointed to the chains that had displaced the ropes around Kahlan´s wrists. The two Mord Siths who were ordered felt visibly awkward near her, almost daunted. Their motions were wary, too snatchy and fast-paced; one flinched when Kahlan suddenly snapped her eyes open. She only lifted an eyebrow, smirking despite her aching head at their new grown respect...

They had been on their way to the dungeon. Six Mord Siths accompanied Dahlia and Kahlan, and seven guards were at their sides. Following the steps down they reached a small hall from where several archways and heavy wooden doors seemed to lead on to different floors. Dahlia had stopped her pace, waiting for one of the soldiers to guide them. Kahlan had seized the chance when one of the guards had approached unwarily to talk to Dahlia. She had watched him patiently under her lashes, waiting to have him near, ensuring the positions of the rest of the group with a quick sideway glance. No one had noticed her muscles tensing, her chin straightening. And then, in a split second she had gripped his short sword out of his belt with both of her tied hands in a quick lunge, exploding into a whirl around and striking forcefully against anybody she could reach. She found her rhythm immediately, crushing into her foes with ferocity and without any hesitation, her moves a lethal dance...

They had not bargained for such a danger, her abrupt sudden attack, completely unforeseen, broke in on them like a thunderstruck and their first confusion gave Kahlan time to kill three of them, two guards and one Mord Sith; two others were sent to the ground, badly injured, before an agiel finally slammed against her temple and stopped her. The last she saw were the dark brown eyes of the young Mord Sith, irritated, before darkness covered her mind...

When she woke up she found herself in a dungeon, Dahlia standing in front of her, ordering the two Mord Sith to proof her chains. She couldn´t tell how they had hauled her here, but given to the bruises she felt all over, they hadn´t been truly amicable...

Kahlan felt reasonably content with herself; her sudden attack had caused her some relief, let her frustration ease and her hope return again a tiny bit. It wasn´t over, the fight had only just begun. A faint smirk settled on her face while she counted - _200 minus 5 – a long way to go...- _and determination settled in her mind..." _I _will_ see the stars again..._ "

Displaying her Confessor´s face, carefully hiding her satisfaction and her feisty mood, she threw a look around. Five Mord Sith were in the room and three guards waited at the door to the corridor. With them was again the young girl in red leather. Their eyes met for a short glance, the dark brown ones mirroring something like... awe..., before she bashfully lowered her gaze.

The sudden pain of Dahlias agiel, harshly stabbed into her back, forced a wheeze out of her throat and brought her focus back on her.

"Stand up, Confessor!" Her carrageen eyes glowing ominously. Kahlan tried to obey, but Dahlia lunged out and struck her agiel with full force across Kahlan's face, slamming her head against the wall. Kahlan moaned and struggled to come up again, but another blow made her knees buckle and she crashed to the floor again. Panting for air she looked at Dahlia, who stood straight, eyes narrowed in malignity. With a low, growling voice she stared Kahlan down. "My way of saying good night, Confessor...Will see you tomorrow; ... enjoy your new bedchamber... Better get used to it." She grinned a dark grin while leaning forward. " Today was the last day of your previous life... I´ve heard Lord Rahl has big plans for you... I may tell you a secret: he found a way... and soon the Seeker will be past and the Keeper will be locked in the underworld. And then...nothing will stop him... You will serve him ... and I will show you how to do..." She turned around, chuckling, and left, the others following her. The last one was the young girl, glancing at her with thoughtful eyes before she turned to leave through the thick wooden door.

Kahlan stared longtime at it after the wood had clunked shut. Slowly her muscles relaxed and her breath calmed. Carefully she checked her aching body to see if she was badly hurt. With a sigh of relief she noticed that beside all the marks and bruises, no bone was broken...She lay back and stared into the growing darkness.

While considering what Dahlia might have meant with Rahl´s plan, exhaustion crawled under her skin, her muscles aching; the marks of the agiels did the rest. The faint light that fell in from a few crenels high above her lit just a few parts of her new home, leaving the most of the room in dark shadows. Clammy straw was heaped in a corner but with a distrusting glance Kahlan decided to prefer to stay on the bare floor to rest. Despite her worry and her pain that twisted her heart in steady little jerks, a fitful sleep swept her away after a while...

She woke in the middle of the night. Her eyes snapped open all of a suden; her entire body gone on alert in a split second. Her cell was covered with darkness beside the faintly shimmering moonlight, dropping through the rare crenels, not allowing to see anything outside her personal range...

Something had caused her hackles rising; the intense feeling of someone standing in the shadows, watching her, prickled on her skin. Every muscle in Kahlan´s entire body seemed to stiffen. The tension in the air was almost palpable - a thick, heavy weighing tension...

Kahlan held her breath, not daring to move; but she focused all her senses on any noise or motion around her...but there was...nothing...

Her nostrils flattered, deeply breathing in, proving the scents, while she could feel goose bumps growing on her skin and she slowly came to her feet, staring into the corner beside the wooden door. Her eyes widened and her voice was a bare whisper:

"Cara...?"

Kahlan felt her heart begin to flutter in her chest while a silhouette emerged out of the shadows, approaching slowly. A wide grin on her face, covered almost completely with mud, even the blonde of her hair was muddy, only her emerald eyes were beaming like candles in the darkness.

Swallowing a lump, heart swelling, Kahlan felt her eyes brimming with tears, heard herself sobbing in pure bliss – and then she felt strong arms holding her, pulling her tight; and soft lips mapped her cheeks, whispering into her ear: "I´m here, Kahlan! I´m here...

Oh Spirits, how I missed you..."

...

t.b.c.


	9. United

**United...**

Kahlan couldn´t stop caressing Cara´s face. Her eyes were wide; blue diamonds shining with pure bliss through the shadows. She was going to lose herself in Cara´s emerald glowing glance. Sobbing and chuckling all at once; her palms pressed against Cara´s jaws, her thumbs stroking over her skin again and again, whispering her name, hardly believing that the blonde was real, that she was able to touch her, to feel the warmth of her skin. No dream. No fantasy.

She did not move her hands until Cara finally leaned in, giving a low moan and pressing her lips softly on Kahlan´s. Tenderly. Tasting. The kiss was an almost shy thing, hesitating, as if lips didn´t dare brush against each other. Then deepened quickly with the first touch; lips parted ungrudgingly, emotion exploded into passion and need... They dunked desperately in, melting into the sensation of feeling the other, tasting her, allowing their tongues moving together in a fervid dance... The world vanished soundlessly around them. Nothing was real. Nothing existed. Except the two of them, bathing in this blissful moment of being reunited.

Kahlan breathed Cara´s name as she at least pulled away, only to feel herself being drawn tightly into Cara´s arms, their bodies pressed together, leaning her forehead to Kahlan´s, holding her as if trying to merge with her.

"I...I thought... I wouldn´t see you again!" Kahlan whispered. "She told me you were dead..."- a desperate sob in her voice. Cara´s brows furrowed as she hung on her lips. "I didn´t believe her, but..., I knew you would come for me... did you find my sign? ... I prayed to the Creator to guide you, to watch over you... But when we arrived here...Cara..." Her dry sobbing broke the stream of sputtering words. "I was so afraid that you would _die._.." The Mord Sith lifted her eyes, letting glowing emerald meet deep blue again, stroking softly over her back and, giving her a bright reassuring smile, she whispered:

"You know me Kahlan. What in all worlds would be able to hold me back?" She sheeted Kahlan's face with soft kisses. "I'm sorry; I so hoped I would reach you in time. I wanted so badly to get you out of this before you came to this blasted castle..." The blonde sighed in sorrow and shook her head slowly. "You shouldn´t be here at all...This is my fault… I was too late... and you are... here...in this...dump!" spitting the last, she threw a look around. Her narrowed eyes scratched over the dark walls and the musty straw and filled with a mixture of disdain and growing rage. Turning back to Kahlan she clenched her jaw, staring with ferocity for an endless moment at the metal around her neck. A low growl crawled over her lips. Her gaze went hard and finally it travelled down to fix on Kahlan´s hands, appalled, shuddered with abhorrence, as if the chains around her wrists were baneful snakes, lurking there, ready to attack.

Kahlan could not bear it and moved sheepishly in an unconscious attempt to hide them...

"No! Kahlan don´t!" her low voice almost pleading, Cara grabbed her hands with her own and lifted them up to her mouth, touching them feather-light with her lips. When her gaze lifted, her green eyes were teary and a veil of deep sorrow and guilt had fallen over her face.

"Kahlan..." Kahlan reached out to tap a finger on her lips..."shh..." shaking her head slightly. She could watch how Cara´s expression changed. The heartache fainted as jaws were clenched and gaze became steely. It was replaced by degrees with grimly determination that flooded her face inexorable. Shoving her finger softly away she growled from deep inside her throat.

"I will kill her!"

Kahlan locked with her eyes; a warm wave of love curled her lips into a faint smile.

"I know."

Cara groaned helplessly. Leaning into Kahlan she wrapped her arms around her and stroke carefully with gloved hands along the delicate line of her back. In the shadows she could not see all the bruises and scratches along Kahlan's frame. But she knew for sure them to be there, all over her entire body. She felt Kahlan slightly shiver when she reached a new mark with the tips of her fingers. Each of them giving her enough reason to kill them all. She pressed her lips softly to her neck on the line where metal met skin brutally, and then settled her head on her shoulder, sharing with her the bittersweet silence of the moment.

With a sigh Kahlan pulled herself away. Her eyes travelled over Cara. For the first time she noticed the strange clothes the blonde Mord Sith was wearing. She lifted a brow with her soundless question, and Cara blushed a tiny bit, barely visible in the shadows.

"I... had to improvise to get here without someone noticing..." She shrugged and petted the black cloak she wore with a crooked smile. Kahlan could identify it as a dark rough woolen horse blanket, dusty and peppered with hints of straw.

"How...? What happened? How did you find me here? ... We are in the Hidden Castle, Cara, and... When we approached... It was not visible until we stood right in front of it! ... It cannot be found if you don´t know where to search it!" The blue swirled in wondering.

The Mord Sith just nodded once.

"I know this castle. I served here years ago for several months after my training had been completed. This was my first practical test. Lord Rahl used to... _invite..._ political adversaries to... negotiate things... Well, it was _me _who negotiated with them, here in this dungeon… At least, I could convince them all..." her smirk was one of pride, staring into space. Then she focused back on Kahlan.

"From time to time I had to do some...errands... outside the walls. It had to be quick and efficient..." Kahlan lifted an eyebrow; she had more than a faint idea which kind of _errands_ Cara was speaking of. "Therefore there are a few secret channels, leading out of the castle. You must know the whole castle is tunneled. I know ways inside which keep you unseen. I wasn´t sure if they were guarded nowadays but I remember, that no soldier was adapted at that time, so I hoped it hadn´t changed since then. Gladly the Sisters of the Agiel didn´t hold watch on them" She shrugged, a grin had returned on her face. "...and here I am! Seems like some things never change..."

Kahlan´s eyes had widened while listening.

"But... inside... Cara... here are more than 200 soldiers" pausing, she gave a low chuckle. "– _well, a few less now -..._ "Cara´s eyes mirrored her question and she grinned lightly "...they were negligent. I think, they didn´t expect the Mother Confessor to be a deadly fury..." the Mord Sith´s expression brightened and she gave Kahlan an adoring glance. The Confessor quickly became serious again.

"In fact I thought it impossible to get here inside. There must be so many guards here in the dungeons..."

"No need to worry about the guards... They were dead before they knew me behind them" Cara chipped in dryly. "But you are right. There is no time to lose. When dawn breaks, they might be a bit upset. And I ´m still not sure how much the Mord Siths know about the secret ways. We have to get out here..." Her brow lifted when she saw Kahlan biting her lip, looking hesitantly.

"What?"

The brunette tilted her head slightly, giving her an unsure, pleading glance.

"Cara, we can´t..."

"Sure we can: I came in! and I will bring us out!" she stated with a determined voice. "What is it Kahlan? Don´t tell me you are scared? I know it is risky, but we can do it! We have done much more than this...They will not even notice us, and if, they will not have enough time to recognize what they see."

Kahlan writhed. "No, Cara. It is not that. We just can´t leave; not now..."

Cara frowned deeply, her face contorted in questioning: "What do you mean, we can´t?"

The Confessor looked at her, her eyes urgently begging for comprehension.

"Dahlia said Rahl is on his way to come here. She did not only captivate me for her revenge, but because he ordered her. I can´t tell why I should be so important for him, but it seems that he needs me for any reason..."

Cara leaned forward and stared at her, her brows had lifted. "That makes it only more essential that we leave, Kahlan. You know the maniac he is" she stressed.

Kahlan nodded slowly. "I know. But Dalia said he has a plan."

"What plan?"

"The keeper will be locked and..." she looked desperate, her voice under her breath: "The Seeker will be past...

She didn´t say more. Even those few words were not meant to inform me. She just wanted to threaten me, frighten me. Perhaps she hoped I would have nightmares with it...

And that is why we can´t leave." Her eyes had gone teary while she paced a few steps through her cell. "We have to find it out – and whatever it is, we must ensure that he fails. That Richard will be safe." She turned to Cara to search for her eyes, tried to read her face.

The blonde had stiffened. Her face was steely, her eyes had narrowed. She slightly nodded... "Richard." was all she huffed, but Kahlan could hear the frustration in the one word, could see the hurt expression in her look. Seeing the blonde´s face shadowing like this let something cold grip at her heart inside her chest and twitch it in a painful jerk. With two hasty steps she rushed towards her, reaching for her chin and turning her face, forcing her to look in her eyes. When she spoke, her voice trembled, filled with a world of tenderness:

"No! Cara don´t think that! It is not..._Richard..._! It is you!

You are the one. The one I want to be with. For eternity! I want to fall asleep with you and I want to wake up with you... Touch you... Feel you! I want to share your breath, feel your skin on mine. Have you by my side...More than I ever wanted something in my entire life – I want you!

Cara, I love you...please, don´t doubt it. Never."

Green eyes dunked into brilliant blue pools. Her lips that were pressed into a thin hard line loosened tentatively. When she looked away it was an almost abashed motion that made Kahlan smile while her stomach fluttered. She couldn´t help but lean in and pressed her mouth against Cara´s, licked her lips gently to feel the softness return.

Her moan was barely reaching Cara´s ears, but the blonde heard the sound of it deep in her heart anyway:

"Never doubt, my love... I´m yours..."

They forced themselves to part again but their eyes kept locked. In Cara´s bright green ones a hint of excuse, Kahlan´s with the warm glow of affection. Then Kahlan straightened and swallowed.

"It is just...I will break his heart, Cara, if I ever see him again. This is the only thing I can do for him. And still the quest isn´t done yet. The world needs the Seeker and... I owe him so much..." she argued.

"So, what is it that you expect us to do?" Clearly the Mord Sith was back, ready to do what was needed. She focused quickly on the decisions that lay ahead.

The Confessor took a deep breath. She felt as if she could divine Cara´s reaction on her next words and almost didn´t dare say it.

"We pretend that nothing has changed. I stay here and wait for Rahl´s arrival, while you hide in the castle and try to devastate as many of them as you can..." Even in her own ears it sounded like an odd plan, but to see the rejection on the blonde´s face was just frustrating. Cara´s gaze flashed upset, not agreeing.

"That´s absurd!" she exclaimed. "No wait… more than that: it is insane!" she hardly frowned for more than one reason. Her eyes had widened, clearly not believing what Kahlan proposed.

"I will not leave you here, Kahlan! No way! Dahlia will..."

"Don´t worry because of her. She is not allowed to kill me. She could have done it in the past few days, many times. But she held back. I am sure she won´t slay me."

"She has you here in her dungeon..."

"Cara, I didn´t say it would be fun. But...You know I have felt the pain of an agiel before..."

The Mord Sith shook her head, her gaze hard and full with sobriety.

"This is different! You have never been trained for days, Kahlan. And she is not simply going to train you now! She will not accept any rules in her treatment. She is longing for revenge, and she wants to hurt you, to see you bleeding, to hear your screams and whines." Cara´s voice broke under her breath. "You have no clue what the revenge of a Mord Sith means..."

Kahlan shut her eyes down. She knew that Cara was right. And she felt the icy claw of terror scratching inside her. But... "It will not be for long..." her voice as even as she could manage it, trying to soothe Cara´s agitation. "Rahl is supposed to arrive in the next two days. And though I don´t know why, it is sure that he wants me to be in a good condition. She can´t dare harm me badly. And she is a coward. I will remind her of her Master´s will..."

Cara regarded her thoughtfully. This was the Mother Confessor, the woman who ruled over the Midlands, proud leader of more than one people, fierce warrior who never hesitated; the one woman from whom she had been given the gift love... How could she expect her to leave her here, defenseless, while she would be tortured by a Mord Sith, who had lost her mind in rage and by a maniac, from whom they could not say what he planned exactly. But looking in her eyes Cara could tell, that Kahlan had made her decision.

"Are you really sure?"

Kahlan gave her an assuring smile.

The Mord Sith turned, considering the plan, pacing. At least she straightened and turned towards the Confessor again.

"I will be near! And if she is going too far, I will kill her!"

Kahlan sighed in relief. "When this is over...You may do to her whatever you want! And I will gladly assist you!"

She pulled her close and leaned into her arms. "Until then, you must be careful, Cara. You must assure that they won´t see you, promise?" In her voice was an urgent pleading. Seeing the Mord Sith enraging, she continued "Stay in the darkness; though it might be no honorable fight...it is somewhat a war! And the result is all that matters. Dead people are dead! That doesn´t change by how they died."

The blonde groaned, but Kahlan saw her chin raising and her eyes staring daggers into the darkness and knew she agreed.

"I´ll be a shadow, promised! I´ll be their living nightmare! They will pay for it, Kahlan. Every bruise on your skin will cost a life..."

"Cara...?"

The blonde sat behind her, leaning against the clammy wall of the cell, her arms wrapped around Kahlan, holding her warm and tight, breathing into her hair and setting soft kisses at times on the back of her head. She had never felt so safe before.

"Hmm?"

"Could you..." Cara heart the tiny tremble in her low voice, felt the plea more then she heard it. Her arms tightened around Kahlan´s chest, the brunette felt her muscles tauten. She almost thought Cara would refuse when an arm loosened and moved at her side.

Cara placed the agiel before them between their legs. Gloved hands traveled slowly to cover hers. She had lowered her head, her mouth breathing into Kahlan´s ear.

"It is pain... It hurts... But you can find a way to welcome it... like an old friend,... you will find a certain comfort in it. Don´t fight it, let it flow, accept it, and when you feel its power, lean in and take it over...make it yours..."

Kahlan held her breath, focusing on the leather stab, concentrating on the pain she was going to feel. Slowly her hand reached out, covered by Cara´s hand, which leaded hers, guided her, and made her feel protected...

The ache flashed through her entire body with an impact that she hadn´t expected. She grimaced with pain, struggling to hold on, but wasn´t able to bear it and let it fall. She wheezed and felt shivers running down her spine.

"Shh... You bridle... Don´t do that. Let it come to you, pet the pain, let it bite until it loses its grip itself. It will. It just has to recognize you, to see who´s its master..."

She nodded. Taking another deep breath her hand reached out again. Cara´s hand stroking hers, assuring...

The pain bit, as Cara had said. She gritted her teeth, panting while it flowed inside her, eating her away. She tried to concentrate on it; open her mind to welcome it...

With a soundly moan she let it go. Staring desperately at it as it lay on the ground, sobbing with pain and frustration. "I can´t ..."

"That was good Kahlan. Much better than before." Cara´s voice in her ear calmed her, soothed her.

"Pain is like a stormy wind... If it is angry enough it blows you away, powerful and destroying. You can be like a strong bough on a tree, hard and firm and try to make head against it, but sooner or later you will break. But look at the grass. It sways with the wind, and even if the storm forces it down, it will stand up again and survive. And it uses the storm to effuse itself, getting stronger this way...

Don´t be the wood, Kahlan, be the grass..."

Her hands lay still wrapped around hers. She tried to center herself and took the agiel again. As if it had waited for her, the pain flashed angrily into her mind, snapping at her, gripping bundles of her nerves and stretching them, twisting them... Kahlan´s entire body clenched, but there was Cara´s voice, whispering into her ear

"let it flow...don´t be the wood, be the grass... sway, Kahlan..."

She could feel a moan leaving her mouth, then another, but she didn´t lose her grip; the pain didn´t lower, but it was getting...familiar...and when she finally found herself able to loosen her taunting muscles it became much easier to hold it.

Cara´s heart was brimming with pride when she felt how her love smiled faintly under the pain. Kahlan turned her face to her, sweat on her forehead, her glance a silky deep night-blue. Her lips were parted, her breath a happy laugh. "Cara..."

"I know, Confessor... Now you are a sister of the agiel!"

Her hand guided Kahlan´s slowly to lay the agiel back on the ground, then she pulled her near and kissed her. While she felt the passion and the need, the desire, the tenderness, the love that Kahlan put inside the kiss, she could feel Kahlan´s hand touching the agiel again, could feel her shiver and breathed in her moan and knew, this time she tried to burn the memory into her heart. The memory of the moment´s bliss made of pain and love…

t.b.c.


	10. Haunted

**Summary:** Cara would do what Kahlan had asked her. She would become this castle´s nightmare!

**Disclaimer: ****Nothing of LotS belongs to me (such a pity!) - no business, just fan-fun**

**Haunted...**

She watched them closely as they walked in. Her eyes followed every motion, noticed how they stopped irritated, how their leader frowned, searching the hall for any movement. How they stiffened alarmed and flocked together when they realized that the hall was empty. That none of the guards was standing watch in front of the cell. She could feel the air´s weight changing, suddenly heavy with the tautness that quickly settled on their shoulders as they scanned the room warily with suspicious glances. A pack of wild dogs, trying to get wind of their prey.

Her lips curled into a wicked grin. They wouldn´t find the guards. No one would find them.

Not where they lay now - a few hundred yards lower, on the foot of the rocky base of the castle, their already dead bodies smashed from their tumble.

Cara ducked deeper into the shadows of the wall, pressing her body tightly against the cold rough stone. She stood on a small edge of a former step, the resting ruin of a stairway that had been destroyed by a blaze in earlier times. The dark blanket that covered her leather scratched slightly on the wall. The group of Mord Sith, standing fifteen feet beneath her, didn´t even take a look up into the darkness beyond the torches. One had turned and left; probably sent to alert the castle, while the rest of them advanced to the cell warily. Dahlia was the first in their row. She slammed the heavy door open, staring cautiously inside.

As they entered the small dark hole, one by one, a deadly glance was shot after them from the broken stair above. Cara gritted her teeth, her lips were pressed into a thin line, her eyes set into slits as she stared down to the strong wooden frame that led the four Mord Sith into the cell. They stumped in, disappearing from her sight. There was a moment of silence before she heard voices, heard the sharp-questioning tone of the first one though she couldn´t identify the words. It was Dahlias stentorian voice. Upset. Keen and loud. Another moment of silence, a second question, shriller, dripping with the heat of rising anger. The answer came at least as an amused chuckle and the Mord Sith´s eyes softened as she recognized the smooth tone of Kahlan, saying something that could only be called a fleer, almost laughing. Followed by a few inaudible words in her warm voice, calm and self confident.

A piercing shout came out of the cell, followed by soundly claps of a hand that slapped angrily a cheek twice and the low whistling scream of an agiel, ready to bite bare skin.

Cara´s heart pounded heavily in her chest. She drew a deep breath, listening, and then a second one. Her hands were clenched into fists, all her muscles had stiffened. She barely noticed the low snarl that escaped from her mouth. Every fiber of her being was urging to jump down and to throw herself into the cell, to stand between them and the chained woman inside. She could feel her stomach flipping a bit, an iciness growing inside her belly and crawling under her skin. The sudden need of violence, when she heard the wheeze, as an agiel was slammed into the Confessor´s body, could barely be controlled. Cara gasped heavily with her enforced idleness...In her mind she had the vision of Kahlan, grimacing in pain, but focusing on her grown ability of handling it, trying to resume the power of pain...

As she had done last night...

She still felt her breath on her skin, felt Kahlan trembling with her kiss, her hands firmly wrapped around the agiel...

Cara struggled a few instants to shove the vision aside. At least she dragged herself away from her thoughts and turned to the wall, panting heavily. She had to leave. Now! She had promised. Kahlan had insisted decidedly that she would leave as soon as Dahlia was inside her cell. She was reluctant to do so, but she had vowed...

In quick and pliant motions she climbed up soundless, using the barely visible bricks, jutting from the wall, marking the ancient stairs that led her to a hole above, where she vanished into the channel that had brought her here and would leadher now through the castle. The painful noises that pursued her steps were still echoing in her ears.

While rushing through the tunnel her body straightened and her chin rose visibly. Her mind turned to her duty, to the promise she had given. She would do what Kahlan had asked her. She would become this castle´s nightmare!

From now on, there was no mercy.

...

The midmorning sun sent warm air with the light breeze to the small group of men. They stood on the capper of the eastern tower. All of them were wrapped in D´Haran uniforms, their cuirasses shimmering silvery in the light. Five of them leaned lazily against the walls; one more paced leisurely along the balustrade, a few feet to the right, then turned, a few feet to the left. His eyes were scanning the horizon below more or less mindful and halfheartedly. There was no need to be wary. The Hidden Castle was well protected by its mere architecture. The only way in was on the opposite side where the small path came out of the bushes, and where the road that went around the mountains met the large entrance. And as this road was coming finally from the north, its last miles were well visible from the castle´s battlement. There was no way, not even for a battle tested horde to conquer the castle in a sneak attack...

The soldiers were flocked together, slightly bored but in a bawdy mood. All their talk and laughter centered on their prisoner, the Mother Confessor.

"She has _the power of love_, you know...!" A tall coarse man laughed. His hands were picking his bollocks in a lewdly gesture.

"Yeah, if I´m her guard tonight I will show her _the power of love_!" bellowed another. "Certainly I will not turn tail and run as the cowards did on watch yesterday..."

"Pah, you will keep Dick jr. in the pants, Dick" bawled another. "After her session with _Dahlia the bitch_, she won´t be much good for having fun!"

"Hey, I don´t care if _she has_ fun! The main thing is _I will_!" He grinned patronizing. "And when I´m ready, there will be enough fun resting for all of you..."

The group roared with laughter.

They didn´t hear the echo of a bloodcurdling scream that welled up from the heart of the castle.

Only Cara did.

It was the moment, when fury overwhelmed her. Taking over the echoing sound of the scream she sprinted out of the shadow, howling eerily like a she-wolf. Her sudden appearance was of a terrifying and murderous intensity. Her bow sent an unerring and deadly arrow and before Dick realized his own blood running over his chest, a second one stuck in the walking man´s throat. He fell soundless, never knowing what happened to him. Cara threw her bow aside and jumped into the midst of the group, her eyes were glowing like cat´s eyes in her dark, grime covered face. Her hair carbon black with grime, her black horse blanket floating cumbersome around her. Her agiels danced in a frenzy rhythm, furiously; deadly; striking forcefully and without the slightest trace of remorse.

The men fell one by one, their dead faces wearing a terrified expression, their broken eyes mirroring the horror of their last view.

At least the Mord Sith stood, straightened up and panting heavily, above their dead bodies, her glowing green eyes in her nearly black face sparkling with satisfaction.

Cara was a breathtaking beautiful nightmare...

...

The light in the cell was barely enough to brighten the wall where the woman was chained. The air was dull with the smell of sweat and the lack of oxygen. The Confessor was half hanging at the wall, barely able to stand on her feet. She was panting for air, her dark curls hanging woozily in wet strands over her bare shoulders, but her eyes were clear and of an incredible brilliant blue as she stared at her. After all, she still kept an intimation of a faint amused smile.

Something went terribly wrong!

Dahlia´s mind tried to fix the matter desperately, but she couldn´t point it out, though.

The evening before, she had felt the Mother Confessor´s weakness lurking behind her walls, had sensed the bitter taste of her desperation that had finally slowed her steps. Her own strength had been growing with the sight of despair flickering over the Confessor´s face. She remembered the wave of satisfaction that had swept through her mind while they descended to the cells.

The Confessor´s sudden attack, the killing of a few of her captors - nothing more than one last defiant struggle against her fate.

But when the sun had risen...

The guards had vanished during the night. Just vanished! Dahlia had no explanation for it. The only thing she knew was that it could not be that the battle-scarred ruffians had been scared by the mere reputation of the Confessor´s power and had scarpered...! But they just had vanished into thin air. Her nerves had been on the edge while scanning the empty hall before the Confessor´s cell, for a moment it had felt like something stitching between her shoulders, but when she had whirled around she had found the hall behind her empty.

To find the Mother Confessor in her cell, still chained and wearing the nasty metal on her neck, had been almost surprising. But that she had been far from a pitiable condition was even more irritating. The brunette seemed well recovered and honestly astonished when she asked her about the guards. She had only risen an eyebrow and had laughed, said she had always known that Dahlia was such a miserable leader, that even the dumbest soldiers would run away from their duties when she was the one in charge...

There had been not the slightest touch of trepidation on her face.

Growling Dahlia had sent the others away, getting into the enraged mood to teach the Confessor all the lessons about pain and submission she deserved.

Her first blows and strikes had been uncontrolled and senseless, just longing for the wheezes and the screams. The Confessor had squirmed and caught her breath under the blows and Dahlia had soon gotten overwhelmed by the feeling of having mastery over this accursed woman. Breathing in the soon rising tart flavor, the mixture of sweat and power and pain, Dahlia had even forced her strokes...

All she had achieved had been. one. single. painful. scream.

It had even caused herself feeling an icy shiver running down her spine...

And then her sisters had returned, reporting that 6 more guards were missing on the eastern tower. They had just disappeared. No traces left. Dahlia had whirled around, staring at them, not believing that this could be a coincidence. The Mord Siths only had shrugged helplessly, unable to explain.

They had missed the slight, fleeting curl of Kahlan's lips, shutting her eyes down, hiding the glint...

From there on, the Confessor had been calm, almost peaceful. Though her body writhed and drops of sweat formed little runlets on her skin, though she was wheezing painfully - the strokes didn´t reach her mind any more.

Dahlias frustration had finally grown into rage, her face had lost the mask of superiority and her agiel had gotten more and more pointed, forcing her prisoner panting for air, but when the next news of dissolving guards reached her she had been quickly back to frustration.

_What the spirits happened in this damned castle?_

She had to take a break when her presence was needed above where first hints of panic were flowing among the army. Before leaving her victim alone she huffed soundly and shot a deadly glance to the Confessor, reluctantly heading outside to check the reports.

A nearly tangible tautness was wafting over the castle when she came up. Looking around she saw chunky men in uniforms flocking anxiously together, throwing looks over their shoulders, wincing at rustlings like frightened schoolgirls after sunset...

She had taken the first she met to task, growling at him with a sharp and angry voice.

"What is it with you fools? Has everybody gone mad here? Is the D´Haran army a pack of rugrats? What do you think Lord Rahl will say when he finds his soldiers wailing like scared children? Stand straight Man! Answer me!" Her carrageen eyes staring daggers into the man.

"It is eerie, Mistress" he had winced. "But... I swear...it is not from this world... The Keeper has sent _his shadow_ ...to kill us all..."

"What do you mean - the Keeper´s shadow?" The Mord Sith had narrowed her eyes threatening, throwing flashes at him.

"I...I don´t know, Mistress Dahlia... But...I swear I´m not raving! ...All I can say is... what I saw!" Squirming under her ruthless glance he continued, stumbling over his words:

"It appears out of the nothing... it is_... giant_... black wings...and...it´_s howling_" his voice only a whisper. "Mistress, it is the Keeper´s voice, that horrible howl..."

"Where did you see it?"

"I was... near by the stables when I heard it... But...it vanished into the shadows before I could fight it."

Dahlia rolled her eyes. Of course, this coward would clearly have done anything, but never stand against the _Keeper´s shadow_...With a hard punch into his chest she turned to her sisters.

"How much?"

"Eighteen by now, plus the guards from the dungeon."

"Any traces?"

"Nothing."

She paced a few steps, her jaws clenched, considering what could be done. When she turned again, her eyes had a grimly glance and she straightened.

"Double the guards. Then take a dozen men and check the castle. I want you to look under every rock. Lord Rahl will be here soon. He will not accept that a _monster_ is terrorizing his castle. I expect your report. – And you better find this beast, whatever it is. Do you understand me?"

The Mord Siths had nodded and turned to fulfill her orders.

She descended again, her mind whirling with the news.

A _giant shadow with black wings.._. _Men vanishing into thin air_...

Was it true? Had the Keeper send his _shadow_ to the world of the living? Did he want to destroy Lord Rahl, retract him to the Underworld ...and all his followers with him?

All at once she felt her hackles rising.

If it was really magic the soldiers were helpless; they couldn't do anything to defend the castle. They were just the steel against the steel. Lord Rahl was the one in charge against the magic...She sighed frustrated. He was on his way... He would be here soon...

Back to the sticky dungeon she started to interrogate the Confessor. Her questions were sharp and impatient. Did the Confessor know about this monster? Did she remark what happened in the night before her cell? Did she hear sounds?

She felt quite bewildered when the Confessor answered her questions surprisingly ungrudging, but at least her words said nothing.

_Yes, she had seen the monster... Yes it had been like a shadow, appearing out of the shadows, barely visible... It had touched her and she had felt goose bumps on her skin..._

Dahlia growled with the nonsense the woman told her. She lunged out in frustration and backhanded her fiercely, but the Confessor laughed into her face.

"You have asked me..."

A kind of exhaustion and, even worse, an endless frustration had settled in her mind. Lord Rahl´s orders had been clear: _Find her, bring her to the Hidden Castle and prepare her for me_.

And she really wanted her Lord Rahl to be content with her work.

But by now, in the late afternoon, she had to admit to herself that it was an almost impossible task to break this woman´s strength.

Dahlia stopped her thoughtful pacing and stared at the Confessor whose face dripped with sweat, her blue eyes now half closed. She didn´t move, seemed too exhausted to react to Dahlia´s torment any more. But, despite the surface she showed, Dahlia was aware that she was just saving her strength; that as soon, as she would led her taste another bite of her agiel, the Confessor would straighten again, giving nothing more than a wheeze and a slightly contorted face at the pain. She would only stare at her again with this icy blue glance as if penetrating her deepest mind, exploring all the hidden corners of her soul, crawling under her skin.

Something annoying laid in this unexplainable power that the Confessor contained, that seemed to welter around her with every breath she took. There had been a few Confessors in some dungeons before. They had been strong, all of them; respectable victims. It had been more than satisfying to get them under control;

But this one was simply matchless...

She owned a strong and fearless heart, an unbreakable powerful soul and... as she had to admit, a body, steeled in countless fights and through her arduous journeys on the Seeker´s side. As she was wearing only her corset and the pants the perfect lines of her slender body could be hardly ignored. And the bruises she had placed during the last days on the Confessor´s pale skin only seemed to underline her natural beauty. There had been moments, where Dahlia had felt distracted enough and barely resisted the urge to drop her gloves and touch this skin, to feel the warmth. And the sweat that trickled seductively into the valley between her breasts. She had stared at it and when lifting her eyes she had met those blue pools and had noticed the hint of a knowing smirk on the Confessor´s lips…

Her agiel, roughly slammed into her waist, had banished the smirk.

But during the entire day it had not been able to banish the slightest part of the pride or the strength that emanated from this woman. Somehow, even while wheezing in pain, she always managed that Dahlia felt small and petty, worthless to torture the Mother Confessor and failing her only purpose...

Dahlia had to pull herself together to stop thinking about it. Lord Rahl was expected to arrive soon; and he would certainly not accept her failure.

With a sigh she pulled her agiel again and lunged out...

Kahlan was prepared for the next bound of her torture and her eyes snapped open at once when the low screaming sound of the unsheathed agiel reached her tired ears. She saw the grim face of Dahlia, saw how her hand struck out and steeled her muscles, expecting the painful blow, when the door was suddenly slammed open, crushing clangerous against the wall and the resolute sound of a smug voice stopped the Mord Sith immediately.

"It´s enough, Dahlia!"

Her eyes narrowed, feeling overwhelmed by a combination of relief and strain to know the blows stopped but to see her worst enemy standing in the frame.

Lord Rahl had finally arrived.

Dahlia stood motionless, her head bowed in submission, her cheeks had blushed slightly as her Master regarded her prisoner as if estimating her work.

"I have heard strange news, Dahlia," He remarked calmly with a risen eyebrow, his glance still travelling over the form of the Mother Confessor, who had straightened, watching him warily. "I have heard that my army is ... in _panic_; that Soldiers and Mord Sith are missed. And there are rumors of a _monster_, devouring my allies..."

His eyes were clinging expressionless to Kahlan´s face, lurking for any reaction behind her Confessor´s mask, but Kahlan didn´t accord him this favor. With a sudden smile he finally let her go, turning to Dahlia, asking in an almost chattily voice:

"How many do you think we have lost today?"

The Mord Sith didn´t want to show her emotion, but her clenched jaws and the tight grip on her agiel displayed enough of her shame as she answered in a low voice:  
>"The last news said it where eighteen, and three more who kept watch last night in the dungeon".<p>

Calmly he reached out for her chin, forcing her to look into his face while nodding thoughtfully.

"So twenty-one if I count right?"

His glance changed in a split second, becoming ice-cold and his voice was a sharp blade dripping with poison as her snarled:

"You are wrong! Thirty-one Dahlia! By now I have lost thirty-one, including four of your sisters, while you have played... _bloody revenge_...down here in the dungeon!"

His fierce backhand dashed onto the Mord Sith face.

"Get out of my sight, Dahlia. Now! I suggest you join your sisters and bring me this _monster_. I expect its head before morning breaks."

"But Milord, if it is magic... It might be the Keeper´s shadow sent from the Underworld to bring you back there. We should be at your side and protect you!"

He shot a vicious glance to her. "Do you really think _I_ need _your_ protection? Dahlia, Dahlia,..."his voice sounded almost fatherly now, "you should be attentive that it´s not _me_ someday to protect _you_!" and with an impatient wave of his hand he sent her out. Then he turned to Kahlan, his face wearing an expression close to regret when he regarded her.

"Mother Confessor! I have to apologize. But you know how the sisters of the agiel are sometimes much too eagerly to fulfill their duties!" He turned to the two Mord Sith who waited behind him.

"Someone should guide the Mother Confessor to an appropriate cell in the first floor and help her cleaning up. And take these... dreadful chains off. "

With a provident smile on his lips he gave Kahlan a luminous smile.

"You will comprehend, my dear, that I have urgent affairs waiting for me right now. I really hope you will forgive me all this...unpleasantness! I will do my best to compensate your discomfort as soon as my business allows. But for now, you´ll have to excuse me..."

He turned and headed to the door, when Kahlan´s keen voice held him back.

"What is this all about, Rahl? What do you want from me?"

He stopped and turned again, looking in her eyes with the gentle glance of an almost lover;

"What I want from you? Oh, Kahlan, I honestly hope that I will get the most precious gift you have to give. I just want you to_ love_ me!"

And with this words he vanished through the wooden frame, leaving a completely bewildered Mother Confessor behind...


	11. Scared

**Summary:** **"Tomorrow, Mother Confessor! ... Tomorrow you´ll be mine…"**

**Disclaimer: ****Nothing of LotS belongs to me (such a pity!) - no business, just fan-fun**

Cara had been busy. Her day had been an endless cycle of searching, lurking, sneaking up and running her prey to earth, only to start again with searching... Since she had left Kahlan before sunrise, she had felt hundreds of emotions, crawling under her skin, travelling through her mind and eating at her heart, causing her entire nerves to quake electrified; again and again.

Kahlan´s face was haunting her as soon as she closed her eyes. Her bloodcurdling scream echoed in her ears, overtrumping the ever present sounds that were life in the castle. Every step she took she could feel Kahlan´s breath tingling on the bare skin of her neck like the light promise of a summer breeze, speaking of warm evenings in silver moonlights. When she stopped hurrying on her way for an instant she almost sensed a whiff of her soft hands touching her cheeks with a lightness that was beyond reality. When she let her eyes travel unconsciously over the playful game of shadows and light all over the castle she could feel her lips prickling with the taste of her sweetness.

But closing them – let to blood and bruises on pale, freckled skin. And when she tried to imagine the brilliance of her gaze, she found those blue pools lay hidden behind a veil of agony and tears.

While rushing through the Hidden Castle on secret ways, always aware of the risk to be detected, Cara couldn´t find any peace. For all intents and purposes she had started with a plan of how to fulfill her promise. She would work her way systematically the outer circles of the castle, would enter the balustrades and she would eliminate the soldiers who were positioned there to control the horizons. They were the eyes of the castle, searching for outer and inner threads and she planned to blind them, to take away their ability to acknowledge her as the wandering nightmare she certainly was. The next step would be to turn her focus on the ones inside the Castle. She had been confident to be effective enough that the soldiers would soon speak of her in every corner of the castle and their voices would be filled with anxiety and trepidation. She would bring death to them and she had slightly grinned in anticipation of her task.

But the very moment she encountered her first foes on the balustrades everything had changed...

To wait in the darkness of the shadows, to hear the bawdy of the men, hear them drag the Mother Confessor´s honor in the mud, imagining the barbarous fate they promised her if they would get her... it made something in her mind crack. The walls of sanity that had covered her loving heart burned down in a fire of rage; and a nearly forgotten beast, sleeping deep inside her came to life with a groan, stretching and growing slowly to its full power, crawling to the surface and preparing for its murderous hunt.

And then Kahlan´s scream, welling out of the dungeons, reached her ears, scratching viciously at her heart, causing the rest of the cage of reasons, diligently built against her worries, smash into ashes all at once... From then on the shadow who killed the men during the day was much more than just a Mord Sith in rage; It was a long restrained creature, nurtured too long with suppressed-to-non-existent emotions of love and despair and rage, that finally had freed itself, debouching to the world to take revenge for all harm and pain and to defend the one most precious being in her world.

The soldiers in the castle, as many they were in their amount and as much they were at daggers drawn, as little they had in the end to oppose this released ferocity; they simply had no chance...

"You have sent for me, Lord Rahl?"

The Mord Sith stood straight, her beautiful eyes glowing with a carrageen shimmer of confidence, chin and jaws set in an unconscious pride. Her entire form spoke another language then it had done before in the dungeons, when he had stultified her, knowing the Mother Confessor listening. She knew she had played her role perfectly and that he had every reason to be confident with her efforts.

And indeed, when he lifted his eyes to give her a glance it was one of satisfaction and priggish approval.

"Dahlia," his eyes traveled over her, petting her figure like hungry lover´s hands. "I thought you would appreciate to give me your firsthand account of how things have been going...As far as I can see you had some fun with the Mother Confessor, hadn´t you?""

Rahl smiled the mincing smile that was him and approached her with a few slow steps.

"I´m really grateful that you granted me the opportunity, Milord." Dahlia smiled in return and bowed her head slightly.

He now stood just a hairbreadth outside her personal range, his eyes waving mischievously over her face, not missing the fleeting sparkle of a satisfied grin that washed shortly through her gaze.

"It has been an easy task to captivate her and leave her companions believing in her death. Our journey to the Hidden Castle has been quite...refreshing... and to have the Mother Confessor here in the dungeons has been a very appreciated pleasure Milord!"

He smirked at her words and with one single step he closed the range between them and leaned in, licking slowly a wet trace from jaw to earlobe, his breath a hot murmur in her ear:

"And it will be a pleasure to hear the details... And don´t miss the part of her being resurrected and her screams when tasting your agiel..."

The Mord Sith closed her eyes, trying not to stiffen or even flinch. Her skin already seemed to tingle annoyed in anticipation of what was to come, while her Lord leaned impossibly closer, breathing in the scent of her leather and obviously looking forward the arousing story of the Mother Confessor´s captivating.

Her voice sounded calm and firm, though she felt the words scratching roughly against the soft walls of her throat. Rahl´s expression turned slowly from grim curiosity to unhidden amusement while she spoke and she could feel his hands roaming leisurely over her body in growing arousal. She told him how her troop had traced the Mother Confessor, how they had trapped her after bathing and how she finally had shot her down and let her die. His breath became labored listening how she pictured herself giving the Mother Confessor the breath of life and his hands, that had cupped her breasts, squeezed so hardly with the image of the Mother Confessor waking up and finding herself confronted with the horror of finding herself blindfolded and tied, that she could feel the sudden pain through her leather and gritted her teeth firmly to suppress the urge to grab her agiel.

She told him all, describing her journey with the Confessor, telling how she had let her taste the agiel every now and then and of the hissing pain that escaped the Confessor´s throat with so caused short waves of pain. She even told him about the Confessor´s mockery and how she had taken revenge for it with enraged blows or backhanding her across her face... Her Lord answered her words with a groan into her ear or a squeeze of her breasts or her buttocks, she could feel him enjoy the pictures she painted for his mind in his favorite colors. And though she hated the way his hands were pitching savagely into her leather-covered flesh – he was her Lord and she felt proud of being the one who could give him that pleasure right here and now.

But even Dahlia had boundaries that she wasn´t willing to overstep for him:

She did not tell him about Cara; not a single word about her behaviors when she had felt alone with the Mother Confessor, nor about the passionate kiss she had witnessed; And very certainly she would not let out a syllable of the naked horror that had been mirrored in her eyes when the Mother Confessor had fallen, shot from behind and with broken eyes... Actually the only reason for her to keep quiet about it was that she could not be sure that she was able to keep her voice steady and calm if she mentioned it. Too alive was the image and the stitching sensation that flooded her mind, remembering the rage she had felt with the sight of the two women, tightly embraced and stroking and touching each other... Her jealousy had been glamorously satisfied with the sight of Cara´s visibly breaking heart when the beaming brilliant blue of Kahlan´s gaze had been broken into deadly emptiness. But she was´n a fool; did not trust Rahl that he would resist the opportunity to taunt her for her Un-Mord-Sithable emotions...

At least, she told herself, it was of no matter for the result! The Mother Confessor was his. Her mission had been a success.

The four soldiers were waiting at the stables for the changing of the guard. They stood close together in agitated silence, looking over their shoulders every now and then, their eyes scanning the shadows nervously. The Keeper´s shadow had taken a lot of their companions over the day. And since Lord Rahl´s arrival, things seemed to get completely out of control. By now the dead bodies no longer vanished into nothing, but were found in hidden corners, scattered all over the castle. The eerie howl that used to burn into their mind with ice cold flames was heard from time to time, but whenever a troop approached the sound, they only found some more dead men, bloodily killed and left to teach the others the cruel sense of naked horror.

Panic was the name of their guide when they decided to leave the shelter of the stable walls to have a look for their companions.

They were not granted to meet them...

Rahl let out a moaning sigh and draw back from Dahlia when she finished her report, giving her a slightly displeasing glance as she stood still firm and half stiffened.

"Ah Dahlia; it is such a pity that you can´t enjoy these pleasures the way I do...Your preference of women is annoying." He smirked. "But there might be a time when I will give you the honor to join me – _and _the Mother Confessor – once she will be devoted to me...I am sure this would be more your pleasure then hers, but most of all it will be mine." He leered and his eyes beamed with the thought of such a satisfying pleasure as he had in mind.

"Does this mean, Milord, you succeeded in finding a spell to make her bow to you?" Dahlia couldn´t hide her curiosity.

His eyes met hers with a mischievous grin. He let her go and turned around, every motion showing obvious triumph. When he looked back at her again his lips were curled and a brow had smugly climbed up his forehead.

"Even better than that Dahlia." His voice dripped with bigheaded pretense. "The spell I found is a very ancient and very powerful one. As I thought, the books say it would be wasted time to try to break the Mother Confessor in the usual ways. There is just one every few generations who has such a power as our dear Kahlan has. Even if we would succeed in breaking her - after too much time - the body that would survive would be nothing but an undead shell with neither a soul nor any powers left inside. But this spell will make her deliver her heart and all the love she feels willingly and completely from the one who owns it now to me; it will delete all the feelings she has for my brother and will make her give her unquestioning love to _me_ instead with even more strenght then she felt for Richard before!

All I need is something that my brother gifted to her and that she is attached to. Did you get what I asked you for?"

"Yes Milord!" Dahlia presented him a small wooden carving - a fondly designed frame of a woman. "He named it "Spirit". He made it for her while their journey and she takes it wherever she goes. I found it on the bottom of her pack." Dahlia smirked when her eyes lifted to meet his glance. "She almost cried when I took it." She did not miss his tongue licking moonily his lower lip.

"Very well done, Dahlia!" He gave her an appreciative glance. "I am glad that you finally regained your strength after Cara´s treason."

Dahlia straightened and raised her chin proudly in appreciation of the rare commendation. But then her expression turned into concern.

"But what do we do against the Keeper´s Shadow? The soldiers are close to panic and if we can´t stop that killing we will lose more than the half of our men within the next days…"

Her Lord waved his hand impatiently, his voice now sharp and angry. "Who counts for a few dozen men, Dahlia? I don´t care! As long as this beast is occupied with them I get the time to prepare my glory… My allies and you and your sisters will shield me and you will get to kill that beast and sent it back to the Keeper, understood?" She nodded, before her voice rose once more.

"Milord, what if the Seeker and his wizard will find out that she´s alive and bound to you? What if he decides to get her back? What if they come to rescue her?"

Rahl gave her a scornful grin, his eyes sparkling with cattiness. "No need to worry, Dahlia!" His voice a cruel promise. "We will see what happens while he tries to close the veil. And in the unlikely case that they survive: The Mother Confessor will never look at him the same way she did before. And she won´t allow him to harm me anyway, nor to _rescue_ her! She rather will protect me with her own life than allowing my brother to hurt me." He stared into the fire, remembering the picture of the Mother Confessor in the dungeons, half naked, beaten and chained, her narrowed eyes beaming with hate…

Dahlia could sense the picture he saw behind his forehead and knew he had forgotten her presence when she heard his murmur:

"Tomorrow, Mother Confessor! ... Tomorrow you´ll be mine…"

The two Mord Sith moved in perfect harmony as they walked down the stairs to the now empty cell of the Mother Confessor. Their paces were forceful but precautious, each one eying their surrounding suspiciously. Their nerves were all on edge, noticing every small noise, being aware of the slightest change of the lightening along the walls.

The shadow that waited above them, lurking in the secret hole of a hidden tunnel kept unnoticed, its approaching went soundless. When they heard the low dark growl trembling into their ears

"…go, greet the Keeper!..."

it was too late, their necks already broken.

Cara stood straight above their bodies, her eyes, filled with concern, travelling through the empty cell. She frowned; her lips pressed grimly together to a thin line. She had to find her. This had to come to an end…

Her new chamber was much more comfortable then the dungeon had been, though it was still a cell. A few small windows invited sunbeams to light the room; Instead of the musty straw that had been offered for the night she found a real wooden bed with a mat that seemed to be clean and a blanket that would protect her against the night´s chill.

Though it couldn´t protect her against the cold shivers she felt already running down her spine, leaving the creeps of an unknown fear in their wake.

Kahlan had already been confused when Rahl ordered the Mord Siths to unbind her and to give her a bath. But she had felt deeply shocked when she heard what he wanted:

"_I just want you to love me!"_

By the Creator´s light, how dared he? The simple thought of it caused her a sudden nausea, rising in her stomach, whirling through her entrails like an autumn storm. She couldn´t think clearly, her walk with the Mord Siths, them bathing her – which would have ended in a horrible abashment for Kahlan if it would have happened under normal circumstances… She hadn´t even realized it as all her mind focused on the plain folly that was with Darken Rahl. He could never in fact expect her loving him! …

Except if he had a plan to make her love him.

Again she felt cold shivers running down her spine, accompanied by a pasty terror that sneaked under her skin, freezing her veins, making her heart skip a beat, and then another…

_Cara!_ She had to see her, had to tell her about it – and they had to get out here! Whatever Rahl planned, it was a dangerous and frenzy plan, she was sure of that.

Spirits, how had she been such a fool to stay when Cara had offered the way out.

Kahlan sat on the bed, rubbing softly her raw wrists, unconsciously fiddling to remove chains that had been long taken away. Dry sobs welled up in her throat.

_Cara, where are you? Please, come here… I need you! _

But when the door was finally opened for a Mord Sith, it was just another unknown face, an enemy throwing her white robe towards her.

"Lord Rahl expects you to join him for dinner."

Kahlan closed her eyes, gathering her thoughts and trying to prepare for whatever would come.

She gritted her teeth in determination and inhaled deeply to clear her mind. When she opened her eyes again, her face was the stoic Confessor mask, but her so very blue eyes shimmered with a faint whirling darkness.

She was the Mother Confessor! Love was her gift and her gift was hers! It was all her being, her live, her soul and her spirit; it was what made her – she would never allow Rahl to abuse her and her love. After all she could clearly see what he planned, though she couldn´t imagine how he would try it, but she already felt the threat of dark magic weaving through the air: he would use it to make her love him and use her powers to confess his foes, make the entire world bow to him.

On her way to Rahl, guarded by very watchful Mord Siths and some scared soldiers her thoughts traveled with the sight of red leather around her to the one Mord Sith that owned her heart, her everything...

_Cara… My love! … I´m so sorry, Cara! ... My love is yours! Never forget that, never doubt!_

She could barely fight the tears that already started to breach her mask, suddenly feeling the weight of exhaustion after all these days, longing for peace that she probably would never find again...

Dahlia awaited her outside Rahl´s chambers. She smirked slightly, sending the other guards away and giving Kahlan a scoffing glance:

"Welcome to your new life, Mother Confessor!"

Rahl waited for her, sitting at the short side of a richly set table. Her icy gaze floated over the setting, not realizing the fresh and good smelling meal, the cups of wine or the clumsy arrangement of scraggy flowers. As she met Rahl´s eyes her Confessor mask was slightly deranged by her arrogantly furrowed brows.

"What do you expect from me now, Rahl?" Her voice as keen as a razor, no hint of sympathy hidden inside.

"Kahlan, my dear! I´m glad to see you." He pointed invitingly to a chair at the table. His voice sounding chattily. "I hope you will forgive me the circumstances...Please, take a seat! I know you´ve been starving for days. But be assured, I never intended to...distress you... So, I want make up for it. I want to make sure you feel comfortable as my guest..." He looked at her with something that could have been concern, if it had been shimmering in the eyes of someone else.

"I am your prisoner. There is no need for fake comfort" she answered disdainfully.

"Well, I hope you will see things in a different light when this evening will be past..."his smiling voice pasty like old honey. "Sit down and share my modest meal. It would be my pleasure."

She didn´t move, but straightened instead even more and stared daggers into him. He ignored her refusal, starting to eat and talking like she was a good old friend whom he owed to tell the last news that happened since they had seen last time. She absently heard him ordering Dahlia to light the candles that waited on the table to be lightened. From the corner of her eyes she saw the small flames flickering in a dance that distracted her mind slightly.

Too late she realized how the up-welling scent made her dizzy, how her vision blurred and her eyes widened, recognizing that she had been trapped...

The last she felt were her knees buckling and her mind trying to cling desperately to a beautiful face, framed by a sea of golden hair, before she dropped to the floor...

t.b.c.


	12. Beloved

**Disclaimer: ****Nothing of LotS belongs to me (such a pity!) - no business, just fan-fun**

His eyes traveled pleasurably over the unconscious woman lying at his feet. Her slender frame, hiding so much strength, her beautiful face, half hidden behind a veil of raven hair. This was the first time that he saw her without the stoic, unreadable mask that she used to wear when she entered the room. Her delicately chiseled features were relaxed, peaceful even in her insensibility. He knelt beside her, raising a hand to stroke her cheeks. A content smile curled his lips as his fingers traced slowly down to her neck and further to the beautiful cleavage, sliding leisurely over the soft swelling. He leaned down and breathed into her ear.

"I can barely wait to feel your loving embrace, Mother Confessor..."

A low harrumphing sound made him huff and stand up to turn around.

"Milord, shouldn´t we start the ceremony before she wakes?"

He just nodded, his eyes again on the Confessor´s face.

"Lay her on the board" he pointed to the wall, where a small, plain table waited. "And give me the bowl for the fire."

While the Mord Sith did as she was told he headed for a cabinet and pulled its small door open. Carefully he took the little carving hidden inside and brought it to the table. Dishes were shoved aside carelessly, some plates and cups smashed onto the floor, but neither Rahl nor Dahlia looked up at the shattering sound.

Rahl put the carving into the bowl that Dahlia had set on the table. He gripped the still hot glowing splint she had fished out of the fireplace and placed it to the dry leaves that the wooden figure lay on. With his hands now clenched in fists he watched it catching fire; his narrowed eyes followed the hungry flames as they feasted on the figure and burnt it into ashes.

He then turned and passed Dahlia, who observed him in regardful silence, heading for the still unconscious woman. A dagger seemed to appear from nowhere, lying suddenly in his hand, shimmering in the flickering candle light.

"I just thought it would be fitting to use your own" he whispered towards Kahlan, sliding the sharp blade along her arm. Almost tenderly he pressed the blade deep into the skin of her bare upper arm until blood appeared. A second cut formed quickly a V on freckled skin and deep red trickled slowly down to the table. He deepened the gushes vigorously and gathered the fast dropping blood in a cup, waiting until it was half filled before heading back to the fire bowl, containing the ashes of "Spirit". Dahlia walked quickly to the unconscious woman and pressed her hand on the wound to stop her bleeding.

Rahl didn´t even notice. His face was burning with excitement. He was looking forward the spell he was going to cast on the Mother Confessor. He mixed the ingredients – the blood and the ashes – into a red-grey pasty and added a small amount of his own blood, dropping out of a quick cut in his hand, while murmuring foreign words; a sound that seemed to be descended from a very ancient language.

With his whispered words the pasty´s color slowly changed from red-grey into a hot orange red, until it seemed to glow from inside, pulsating in an almost vivid rhythm, its intensity following the more and more rising voice of his invocation.

After minutes, that seemed to be hours for the Mord Sith, his voice turned into a stretched growl, before suddenly yelling out loud once, followed by the eruption of a hot darting flame out of the bowl, leaving the now deep black mass steaming slightly.

Dahlia had retreated into the shadows of the wall, looking over her hunched shoulders as if expecting something eerie to happen…

Rahl lifted his head in silence, panting heavily; sweat covered his forehead, but his lips were curled into a satisfied smirk. Without hesitation he lifted the bowl to his mouth and slurped half of the mixture. His eyes kept close for a moment, as if listening to his insides, lurking for any changing, but then he filled the second half of the mass into a cup and went to the still motionless Confessor.

"Hold her head!" he ordered the Mord Sith and when she did he instilled Kahlan the rest of the black compound…

...

Cara felt deeply worried. She had just snuffed out three more of those galoots in uniform, their lifeless bodies lying in the mid of the hall she had already crossed to reach the chambers where she assumed to find Kahlan. She had eavesdropped on some guards an hour before to find out where Rahl had jailed her. And doing so she had heard how they discussed the fact that Rahl was going to _cast a spell_ on the Mother Confessor…

Bursting with heated energy, propelled by her concern, she now planned to just enter her cell and take her out of this madness. It was enough!

_Kahlan is in danger_!

She could feel it so clearly, breathed it in with every gasp, as if the threatening had thickened the air, had erased the sunlight already.

This time a NO wouldn´t be accepted! No more discussions. No more pleadings. And if Kahlan would refuse leaving again, she would haul her on her own shoulders out of this cursed castle; somehow. No matter at what risk.

She was going to disappear in the shadows again, when a sudden blow in her chest smashed her hardly to the ground. Air seemed to be choked out of her lungs, she wasn´t able to breath, her stomach twisted and blows of an unknown pain shattered her. Cara´s gasped and struggled against her bucking knees to get on her feet; Her hands gripped her agiels, her widened eyes searched desperately for the pain´s reason. There was nothing.

It was not until she fainted that she realized the pain coming from deep inside her…

...

She blinked a few times and took a deep breath, clearing her mind slowly from the blurring feeling of numbness that still covered her like a heavy blanket. With a moan her hand palmed her forehead that was about exploding and she needed a minute to focus on where she was. Behind closed eyes she tried to remember – but felt unable to catch her thoughts. She could feel herself lying on a mattress, fully dressed. There was an irritating weight on her belly. When she felt her headache just simmering she reopened her eyes and turned carefully to her right.

Huddled against her, his arm resting over her waist and snoring, lay Darken Rahl.

Kahlan frowned, flinching, not believing what she saw. She scooted left automatically..

But then her lips curled into a smile and her eyes softened, since his sleepy expression was more the one of a child that had been denied a cake then the one of a proud sovereign. A low chuckle escaped Kahlan, stiffening immediately with her own sound.

_Spirits! This is Darken Rahl! _

The Confessor frowned again, deeper this time. How could Rahl lie here beside her so peacefully? She sighed, grateful and relieved, to see him completely dressed. Rummaging around in her head, she tried to remember what had happened. Weren´t they supposed to be foes?

How had things changed? How could it be that she felt neither fear nor hate when she watched him sleeping?

She felt so exhausted. Her head ached. There was so much confusion...

Kahlan tried to sit up, glancing to the man at her side when she noticed him being awake. All her muscles tensed slightly, her cheeks blushed deeply in an instant; but Rahl smiled a cordially smile when his eyes met hers.

"Good morning, my dear!" His eyes beamed with affection. "I am sorry... if my presence is... irritating you? I apologize. I just wanted to make sure, you´re safe. You didn´t feel well after dinner and suddenly fainted? How do you feel now?"

_**SOLICITOUSNESS?**_

Kahlan looked embarrassed, shifting her eyes to the side. There was something strange in his priggish tone. He sounded smugly and slightly amused, as she remembered he always did. But a new nuance of – warmth? – caused a wave of sympathy rise inside her chest that she couldn´t conceive.

"I ... I don´t know... My head... I´m sorry..."she stammered, her cheeks heating with her own awkwardness.

He stood up and retreated a few steps, smiling his mincing smile, and Kahlan wondered how she could answer it so easily, with so much sympathy as she actually did. She barely suppressed a need to facepalm and must have shown it, because he offered in an understanding low voice:

"You are tired, Kahlan. I will leave you alone. Try to get some rest; we will meet this afternoon..."

_**REGARD?**_

She nodded gratefully and watched him leave. Dropping down on her back she covered her face with her palms, staring into the calm darkness they offered.

_Was this real? Spirits, what had happened?_

It felt so wrong. Being good friend with Darken Rahl? Feeling sympathy?

And it felt so right at the same time...

He hadn´t done anything to frighten her. Though he had had every opportunity. Instead his behavior had been...

_**REPUTABLE?**_

Kahlan´s head was close to emptiness; her mind was tattered. She knew there had been times when the simple thought of him had made her angry. There had been reasons for her to hate him, to despise him. Good reasons.

But she wasn´t able to remind any of them.

All she could see was his friendly face, his concern, his boyish – and a bit chichi - charm.

In a very strange way he suddenly reminded her of Richard…

Brooding over her foreign emotions she didn´t realize how exhaustion overwhelmed her. Her body feeling limp, still not fully recovered from whatever had happened the evening before… Her eyes closed. She curled up on her side, soon her breathing went even, her mind trying to find kind of peace in a slumber, so deep, that it got near to unconsciousness...

...

"Milord?"

Dahlia had taken the watch over the cell, while her Lord had been inside, waiting for the Mother Confessor to wake up.

His face wasn´t readable. "...At least... she didn´t flinch!"

Her unspoken question forced an angry groan out of him.

"This is not exactly what I expected." he mumbled annoyed, pacing in front of her. "Actually she is confused, and diffident; and she is tame, and lovely –...Though I always thought _love_ is a more passionate thing..." He kicked a pebble huffishly out of his way. His face held the expression of a pouting, ten-year-old boy.

One amused brow climbed up Dahlia´s forehead, quickly dropping down as he turned to face her.

"Perhaps it doesn´t work this fast?" she offered. "The Mother Confessor is a very special person, so her emotions are... Changing needs time, I guess!"

He stared at her, thoughtfully, and then nodded with a huff. "You may be right. We will let things simmer for a while. So, she is asleep now. You will stay here; I expect you to watch her. Very. Attentively!"

She bowed respectfully.

"And Dahlia: You will be _very polite_! Is this understood?" Her nod was enough to make him turn and storm away. The Mord Sith wondered, if he was going to reread the spell once more to assure he had casted it correctly...

Through her mind flickered a glimpse of two women, clinging to each other in a passionate kiss.

_?_

She waited until the sound of his steps had vanished and then turned around and opened the door to Kahlan´s cell.

Kahlan had fallen into the deep sleep of a troubled mind. She even hadn´t covered herself with the blanket, had just swept away into the peaceful world of dreams.

Mostly peaceful.

In fact, Dahlia witnessed a very fitful slumber as she watched the Mother Confessor, sitting close to her on the edge of the bed... The long raven hair tousled, her face contorted while she seemed to experience some awful happenings in her dreams. Now and then the Mord Sith heard a moan, then a huff; suddenly the Confessor would stiffen, breathing a "NO" before she would finally sob with something that could have been despair.

Dahlia tilted her head, slightly smirking, wondering what it was that she saw in her dream that caused so much agony. Not that she felt compassionate. No, not at all. The Mother Confessor deserved every agony she could get.

Her eyes travelled slowly over the slender form of the sleeping woman, taking in the details of her wonderful body, sometimes resting on a spot before moving on until finally focusing on the beautifully freckled skin of her neck.

Sweat had appeared on Kahlan´s forehead, cumulating and slowly trickling down. She had rolled on her back, panting, slowly calming in her dreams. Dahlia´s eyes seemed to be hypnotized by the small trickle of salty water. The sight of the seductive runlet, following its trace on its beautiful way, reminded the Mord Sith of the moments in the dungeon, when she had barely been able to withstand the need to touch the Confessors bare skin, to lick the salty line between her breasts...Dahlia felt a certain heat rising up from deep inside her belly. Her eyes narrowed, still focused on the tiny pearls of sweat, now visible on the Confessor´s cleavage.

Suddenly it was just a very small edge between obeying her Lord and taking the bait. To fall into the incredible spell that seemed to emanate from this woman like rays of light from blue, sunny skies.

With great effort, Dahlia managed to look away; and then her eyes fell on the sign of dark red, a blurred V that seeped through the white of her robe. Before she was reflecting what she did, she stripped a glove and raised her hand to touch it. Catching her bottom lip with her teeth, she held her breath when her fingers slipped over the silky fabric to the point, where dry blood had roughened it.

An overwhelming sensation flooded her mind in an unexpected wave of heat, made her gasp for air. Her carrageen gaze flickered while travelling back to the beautiful cleavage, watching its ups and downs, heaving and lowering with her now calmed breaths. Suddenly it felt nearly unbearable seeing the soft mounds of those wonderful breasts and not touching them.

"Was it this what you have done to Cara?"she moaned lowly."I have seen you both. She was not the one I knew before anymore. You have cursed her, compelled her." Her hand had left the spot on the robe long ago, sliding softly along the arm towards the Confessor´s belly, resting there for a while, circling carefully. She closed her eyes, tilting her head, feeling the tense muscles under her palm. Growing arousal painted her face, brows furrowed in concentration while her fingers dared wandering up the sleeping body. Her breath getting labored when she reached the delicate swelling under the silken white fabric. Her eyes opened again to settle on the curves of Kahlan´s chest.

Her mind was in trouble. There was this incredible sensation of feeling her foe´s heart beating against her palm, to feel the veil of damp on her bare skin. That all made her dizzy, longing for more, knowing it was wrong...

And beside all this, she felt the need to hurt, to bite until blood streamed, to torture... if not to kill...

Dahlia´s breath had changed into a wheeze, her eyes had widened, beaming with a new kind of madness, not realizing that she was going to take a decision that would be one for eternity; with no chance for any revoke. While her one hand continued stroking over skin along the edge of white, her other reached out and found its way to Kahlan´s throat, enveloping the beautiful spot that lay just beneath this proud chin, slowly pressing down...

In the same moment, when her stroking hand left the seductive skin of the Confessor´s cleavage to join the violent pressing around her throat, in the same moment, when Kahlan´s eyes shot open as her breath almost stopped, in this dangerous moment it was the red leathered fury of Cara, that came over Dahlia like the Keeper´s shadow.

"NOOOOOOO!"

Cara crashed into Dahlia and ripped her roughly away from Kahlan, slamming an agiel into her back with all released ferocity that had been reared over days. Yelling out her rage she threw herself over the shocked Mord Sith, her hands slamming her agiels rapidly into every spot of Dahlia´s body she could reach, her eyes narrowed and shooting flashes. Cara was completely out of control. All her senses were focused on one purpose: holding this woman back from her Kahlan. Never again letting her touch that precious skin. Devastating this walking threat...

It took her some moments to see clear again. Panting heavily she found herself kneeling over Dahlia, still holding an agiel firmly pressed into her belly, the face of the overwhelmed Mord Sith beneath her contorted in pain and shock, her arms instinctively crossed over her face as a shield against the bursting violence…

Cara stared down at her, and after taking a deep breath she pulled her agiel back and slowly stood, her ice cold gaze holding her at bay.

Dalia didn´t move at first. Instead she locked her eyes with Cara´s and growled:

"Why do not come to an end? Have you even lost that last tiny part of pride? And now? Let me go? Again? You and I, we both know that this will never end, Cara. And for her" she pointed to the bed "it would have been better if you had appeared a minute later."

"What are you saying?" Cara´s voice was a husky whisper. Her gaze came from dark green pools that sparkled as with fire. Dahlia came to her feet, lurking and carefully holding outside Cara´s range.

"She is no longer the one you knew. She ´s Rahl´s! And you know, what it means if Rahl has chosen her. He will change her every being, she will never be again the one you loved." Dahlia laughed. And suddenly made a step towards Cara and attacked her, agiel in her fist, not breaking her speech."Finally you will have _nothing_!" Her mocking voice turning into a hysteric giggle. Then again striking forcefully against Cara´s chest. The blonde reacted automatically, her jaws set in decision, blowing her own weapon into her foe who had once been more than a friend to her, long ago, who now gasped for air, only to continue scoffing with her next breath.

" You´ve lost her! It won´t take long and the _dark magic_ inside her will make her forget her _silly monster-pet_..." Her laughing mad and unbearable, Cara wanted to cover her ears to not hear it anymore, but Dahlia didn´t stop.

"And once Rahl beds her, he will do whatever he wants to her...Do you remember what that means?"Another dangerous blow that was blocked and quickly answered. But her next words were hurting so much more than her blows did:

"And _I _will join them_, I_ will _have_ her..." It was too much. Cara´s vision blurred and Dahlia took the chance to get her with a violent blow towards her heart. Cara fell, but her rage exploded with an unexpected impact. Her agiel seemed to get alive, searching the one point that was final and crushed down on it. Dahlias eyes widened in disbelieve, her body shattered and suddenly stopped, going limp and sinking to the floor. Cara´s narrowed eyes followed her, wheezing heavily, giving her a glance of deepest disdain. Her growl wasn´t from this world when she murmured:

"Never! _You_ will _never _lay your dirty paws on _her_!"

She took a few breaths, waiting for a relaxation that didn´t come. Her whole body ached with tautness and she suddenly felt with desperation that the pain on her way made sense now. It had been the moment when the dark magic had reached her Kahlan, trying to twist her love; and somehow she had felt it on her own...

When she heard a movement from the bed beside, she closed her eyes, biting her lower lip and then turned very slowly, taking a deep breath and holding it, then lifting her eyes almost reluctantly, afraid of what would be shown in these beloved blue eyes...

Kahlan sat on the bed, her eyes widened, her face wearing the stunned expression of someone who had just faced blank terror.

When Cara´s gaze met hers, she stared for only a second, before a sob left her throat; her eyes softened, blissfully recognizing that the blonde was unhurt. Her hands reached out. Begging for her. Her voice whispered her name and tears found their way down on pale skin.

"Please, Cara" she whispered. "Hold me!"

The blonde wanted to move instinctively, but a part of her didn´t dare coming closer. Still frightened of the words she had heard. Still doubting. She stood motionless with widened eyes, just staring . Waiting. Pleading for a sign. Longing for her touch. Her scent. Her love.

Kahlan shook her head in disbelieve, still sobbing under her breath. Fear wrenched at her heart when she saw the blonde hesitating.

"No, Cara! Don´t! Don´t doubt. She wasn´t right! I am still here..."

Cara stared at her. Trying to read the brunette, who opened her heart ungrudgingly, letting her in and offering her deepest emotions willingly.

And behind a veil of tears Cara found nothing but love. Honest, unquestioning love. And finally the wall broke down and Cara allowed herself to fall to her side. She felt caught by strong arms, holding her tightly, feeling the sobs that still emanated Kahlan´s throat in her own, kissing softly salty tears from pale skin, inhaling the beloved scent of that woman, who was her whole being...And her heart lightened, eventually losing the weight of dread.

They lay together like this for an eternity. Breathless. Trembling. The world around them ceased, leaving just the two of them, sinking into an embrace that let each of them feel the other´s heart beating; strongly and loving.

Nothing had changed between them...

t.b.c. ...


	13. Attached

The tears had soon stopped falling. Her breath took in the sweet scent of the woman melted into her, her mind contently basking in the tender feeling of being wrapped in love.

Kahlan´s hands nuzzled softly through the blonde´s hair. Time had passed. Precious time... She had nearly forgotten where they were or what had happened. Until Cara finally drew back with a regretful sigh. Her lips caressed Kahlan´s one more time, a fleeting promise, before she stood up.

"We have to go."

Kahlan nodded with a sigh. She moved slowly, as if she didn´t want to let the moment pass, but she knew there was no more time to lose. Her dreamy expression changed into resolve while she rose.

"We might meet some of them on our way; I need a weapon."

Cara smirked, already offering the dagger she had hidden in her boots. "I knew you would ask for... And take this..." she kneeled beside Dahlia´s body, taking the agiel out of her lifeless hand and turning it over to Kahlan. "You´ve tasted it. It will serve you now." Seeing the hesitation in her eyes, Cara added softly, reassuring, "Hey...you´re a sister of the agiel, remember?"

Kahlan could hear the pride in her voice and smiled. Swallowing slightly, she wrapped her fist around the weapon and tried not to flinch at the first contact. Closing her eyes she felt the sudden pain ease into a sharp tingle and with a sigh she welcomed the power as her own. When she lifted her eyes again, she didn´t miss the grin on Cara´s face. She barely heard her muttering "that´s my girl..." while the blonde lifted the belt from Dahlia´s thigh to offer it to the Confessor, who took it, smiling, letting her fingers stroke the gloved hand, and then fixed the holster under her robe. She sheathed the agiel and turned towards the exit.

Their jaws set, they approached the way out of the cell. Their eyes locked one more time, searching for strength and reassurance in the other´s. They both took in one more deep breath and shared a fierce smile and then Cara opened it carefully. Half-stepping outside, her eyes shifted left then right, alert for any movements in the hall. When she was sure there was nobody near, they stealthily rushed out. Cara headed for the passage on the far side of the hall and suddenly Kahlan frowned, feeling something unsettling nagging at her mind. She eyed the passage with concern. It appeared to be the only way and she blindly trusted Cara to get them both out. But the risk of running directly into their foes was obvious, and her skin prickled from the odd pressure of this threat. She sensed something thickening the air, lurking in the shadows that were cast by the torches on the walls. Something cold and eerie.

"Cara?" her voice was barely a husky breath. Unsure, slightly shivering. Trying to beat the dread that was already crawling under her skin.

The blonde turned her head to face her, her eyes impatiently begging her to follow.

"We have to hurry, Kahlan. The next tunnel is not far. As soon as we..." she paused. "Kahlan?" Looking at the Confessor, her eyes narrowed. Something was wrong in Kahlan´s gaze; her widened eyes had an odd, unfamiliar shimmer, a faint dark fog wavering through them. Before her mind registered her own worry, Cara reached out to grab her hand and tugged her closer, already starting to run down the passage. Kahlan gritted her teeth and tried to block her troubled feelings out.

They both hurried into the small alley that brought them into a greater hall, from where several heavy wooden doors lead to other cells. Cara wanted to head to a door on their left when she noticed that Kahlan hesitated. She turned again to face her, wanted to urge her to speed, but looking at her, her steps stalled. She was horrified to watch as the shadows in Kahlan´s eyes concentrated into a slight swirl. Kahlan stared at her, but her gaze was heading inwards, listening to something that only she was able to hear. Cara´s fingers squeezed her hand, struggling to get her attention.

"Kahlan? What is it?" her voice barely under control; she couldn´t avoid that it sounded shattered, like broken glass.

"I can hear him, Cara... he's calling for me!" The words hardly a whisper. "He's coming..."

Cara strained to listen, but she couldn´t hear a sound, except the hounded beating of their hearts and their suppressed breaths.

Kahlan shook her head. "No, it´s not out there...I don´t know how..." she knitted her brows, visibly troubled. "It is inside me... Cara…?" An afflicted moan left her lips. Her eyes, veiled with gloomy whirling shadows, locked with Cara´s.

"You must get out of here! He must not find you..." she wheezed.

Cara frowned deeply, grabbing her hand even tighter. "No! Don´t even think about it!" With her jaw set, she rushed to the heavy door, dragging Kahlan along. They hadn´t made it half way, when the sound of hard steps reached their ears, rumbling through the hall like muffled war drums, their growing loudness warning of the approach of the boots owner's.

Finally Cara reached the door, still keeping a firm hold of Kahlan´s hand, instinctively knowing there was just a very small chance of keeping them undetected. She jerked the heavy wood open, but then felt a strong blow from Kahlan, who wrenched her hand free from her and stepped quickly back into the hall, resolutely closing the door behind her, while Cara stumbled into the dark cell.

Cara whirled around immediately. Stunned. Hissing. She wanted to go back and pull Kahlan inside, but stood rooted to the spot when she heard Kahlan speaking outside.

...

The heavy latch had barely closed and Kahlan had just stepped hastily away from the door as Darken Rahl, accompanied by a quad of soldiers and two Mord Sith, entered the hall. To suddenly see her standing in front of him like an apparition froze him and he stopped so unexpectedly, that his cortege avoided bumping into him by only a hair´s breadth.

The pressure in Kahlan´s chest softened immediately. And the ridiculous sight of them stumbling before her made it easier to smile at him, almost relieved.

"Lord Rahl! I'm glad to see you! I was on the way to search for you, but...I didn´t know where to go..."

Rahl acknowledged her with a distrustful glance, pulling up an eyebrow. He crossed his arms and tilted his head in a priggish gesture.

"Kahlan?" His gaze pinned her suspiciously. "I am surprised! To be honest, I didn´t expect you to be so awake... so soon..." The unspoken question hung in the air for a brief moment, before Kahlan answered with a disarming smile.

"You're right. I´m still feeling numb...But... I don´t know how to explain... I had the strongest feeling you were calling for me."

Rahl stared at her. Focusing on her eyes, he could detect a very faint hint of shadows within them, still whirling gently. His face softened slowly with a smug grin and his hand travelled to his beard, stroking it thoughtfully in a gesture that seemed somehow familiar to Kahlan.

"Interesting..." Amused, he let his eyes travel over Kahlan´s face, who met his look with apparent affection. "So it was the right decision to add my blood..." he muttered absently, obviously very self-satisfied. Kahlan successfully managed to suppress the need to frown at this. His smile was now filled with complacent pride of ownership, when he raised a hand and touched her cheek gently. While Kahlan returned his smile, she wondered again how she was able to tolerate his hand on her cheek so easily.

Suddenly he paused, looking around as if searching for something.

"But – where is Dahlia? Wasn´t she supposed to guide you on your way?" And again, there was the distrusting eyebrow that climbed his forehead.

Kahlan looked at him as innocent as she could be. "Dahlia? I...I don´t know." She shrugged. "Was she around? I... don´t remember seeing her…" While offering him a confused face, her mind started racing.

How should she explain the lifeless body lying in her cell?

And what if the Mord Siths gave her the breath of life?

_Spirits, Cara, what are you going to do now?_

...

Cara had been completely blindsided by Kahlan´s actions. She stumbled a few steps, flashing around to see the door close and blocking the light out. Finding herself surrounded with darkness, her first instinct was to jerk it open again and drag Kahlan inside, but reaching the strong wooden frame she already heard the voices behind the door.

_Damned, Kahlan! You call me stubborn? _

Hissing in rage, she slammed her hand against the stony wall, immediately regretting it for the dull sound that emanated like far away faint thunder. Stiffening, she held her breath, and listened to the muffled sounds from the other side. The lack of reaction calmed her a tiny bit.

She calculated the risks.

Not knowing how many were standing outside, it might mean their ruin to act blindly. Though they were two and Kahlan was armed, they could use the surprise of her sudden appearance to drub them, but if they were defeated it would be their death. Certainly.

She clenched her hands into fists, barely suppressing a growl of helpless fury.

Outside Rahl´s voice issued a harsh order that she wasn´t able to understand and then the thundering sound of heavy boots marching away lock-step.

Cara's ears were practically glued to the door, listening for further noises. As soon as she was sure that no one had remained, she opened the door tentatively, waiting for any sudden move or attack.

Finding the hall empty, she slipped out of the cell, nervously searching for traces on the floor. But soon she sighed, frustrated. It was impossible to see who had gone in which direction. She tried to focus her mind, faltering whether to head back to Kahlan´s cell or to rush to the rooms in the upper floors, where she might find Rahl´s chambers. Chewing her lip, she finally turned towards the cell. The distance was short and it made sense to first check there before running in a mad rush after Rahl.

She sidled cautiously back through the small passage, keeping herself in the shadows, her side pressed close to the wall, almost melting into it. When she reached the other side, she found the door to Kahlan´s cell wide open, the torches inside allowed her to see the two Mord Sith, already kneeling over the third body.

Cara straightened. Her eyes narrowed, darting. She heard herself growling like a disturbed shadrin while she approached the cell.

_Why can´t you just let the dead keep the dead? Haven´t you ever heard of their right of eternal peace?_

The thought of a resurrected Dahlia was infuriating...She felt rage welling up in her chest. No, this had to stop. NOW!

Her attack came hard and unexpectedly. The Sisters hadn´t even the time to block the determined and merciless blows that blared down on them. They weren't worthy opponents.

It took her only a few moments to make them join Dahlia on her way to the Keeper.

She managed to hide the bodies in other cells, aware that whoever would be sent to search for them would make a horrible fuss if they found three lifeless Mord Sith in the former cell of the Mother Confessor – and her mind refused to imagine what this would mean for Kahlan. Though she knew she was losing time, she lugged them to the furthest reachable cells and laid them in the darkest corners inside, hiding them behind simple wooden furniture to make sure they wouldn´t be detected at first sight.

She felt sweat on her forehead and her thoughts returned to the idea she'd first considered while hiding the dead.

All she wanted was to run to Kahlan and get her out of here. But her mind worked rationally, reminding her that she had to be careful, had to exercise caution if she didn´t want to run blindly into a trap. Rahl was priggish and snobbish, but he was no idiot. His brain was mad, but close to brilliant if it was used for ploy and spite. Her own unforgotten foolishness, following Dahlia into a trap that had almost destroyed her - and worse, almost destroyed Kahlan, by her own hand - was the best reminder to not underestimate his way of thinking. And though she had managed to reduce his army to almost half, they were still too many to fight them in an open battle.

What they needed was a muddle, a nice, glorious mess, and the corner of Cara´s lips curled into a dark grin while she turned on her heels and rushed off.

...

Kahlan walked beside a thoughtful Lord Rahl, giving her a few fascinated glimpses every now and then, while she chatted mindlessly, trying to keep him distracted from her inward concerns.

"I am sorry for my behavior last evening. I can´t even remember what happened. You said I fainted?" her eyes meeting his apologetically. Her voice became low and filled with embarrassment. "I hope you don´t think I'm that weak..."

He didn´t respond, but his gaze was one of generous forgiveness. Her lips smiled and behind the curtain of raven hair, he couldn´t see her eyes refusing to join them.

"Where are we going from here? I guess you are not going to stay here? I mean... you are Lord Rahl! And a mighty ruler belongs in his palace, not in an unadorned castle somewhere in the wilderness...!"

He stopped as they had reached the entrance of what seemed to be his chambers. Taking her arm, he guided her in, his cortege following but remaining near the impressive door. Kahlan looked around. It was a comfortable, but sparsely furnished entrance hall; a few carpets on the floor, a heated fireplace, a large table, surrounded by some red leathered chairs, another small table at the wall and a cabinet in one corner. Candleholders on the table made something inside her jingle, a fleeting remembrance of a threat, but before her mind caught it, it had flown away.

"Take a seat, Kahlan. We have to talk." His mincing voice was accompanied by a soft pressure of his hand on her shoulder and Kahlan found herself feeling comforted by this gesture. She settled on the chair he had offered, looking at him expectantly.

"Do you remember how you got here?" he asked with a friendly voice, carefully watching her every reaction. She nodded.

"Dahlia had captured me." She frowned at the thought of it. "She brought me to this castle and tortured me in the dungeons." Shifting her eyes, her face lightened. "Until you came and freed me."

His gaze held hers. "And you feel no anger about it?"

She sighed, asking herself what exactly it was that she felt. His presence seemed to wrap around her thoughts, sucking her dry. Her normally clear mind felt... misty. Slowly shaking her head, she searched for the right words to explain.

"To be honest, I don´t know what it is that I feel. I know we weren´t friends ever before. But... things have changed. It is confusing..."

He sat on the edge of the table in front of her, taking her hand, awaiting her next words. Both his eyebrows had scrambled upwards, and Kahlan couldn´t help but give a low chuckle at the sight of the unfamiliar expression.

"I think I wronged you all this time, seeing only the foe, the tyrant. You may not have chosen always the best way to handle things, but I see now, that your intentions had been purposeful." And after a short instant, Kahlan added, "I hope you´ll forgive me."

Rahl smiled mischievously. His eyes reflected satisfaction at her words. Deep inside, Kahlan struggled to suppress a small voice that nudged her to punch his contented face.

"And don´t you miss Richard?"

Kahlan lowered her eyes, as if listening to the sound of the name.

"Richard..." her voice smiled. "No, I don´t miss him. He is a good friend and he will always be, but he has to find his own way..." and knowing what he wanted to hear she added: "My place is at your side."

Rahl straightened; that was exactly what he had wanted to hear. His hand reached out and cupped her cheek, forcing her to look straight into his eyes, and Kahlan was stunned at her own reaction, as she leaned in, appreciating the gentle touch.

_Brace yourself, Kahlan! This is still Darken Rahl! _

She swallowed and pulled back. His vigilant eyes noticed her reaction with a visible spark of anger. But then he laughed indulgently, letting her go, standing up to pace behind her.

"Kahlan, I appreciate your words." Triumph danced in his voice, as he continued. His features now wore a very satisfied grin. Again, he reminded her of a boy, gloating over a cheap trick.

"Though I have to admit, it has been a real challenge to find a way to steal your love for Richard..."

Now it was Kahlan´s eyebrow that traveled up her forehead in astonishment. Noticing her expression he gave a nasty chuckle.

"Surprised, Mother Confessor?" He grinned wickedly. "Well, I may tell you, that it is absolutely in my powers to cast a spell that can not only transfer your love for my little brother to me, but even bind you to my will." He chuckled again. "As it has been proven when you felt me calling for you."

When he faced her again, his friendly mask had vanished. Instead his eyes sparkled maliciously while his hand patted her arm almost patronizing.

"Dahlia is right, it might need a little time until your love will be fully developed. But I promise, you will enjoy very... exciting times, as my wife..."

Kahlan was stunned. Her gaze slid to his patting hand and from there back to his face. This went really too far! The small voice in her mind suddenly started to shout... Sympathy was resolutely shoved aside and left only space for a rising anger that quickly colored her cheeks, painting them a heated scarlet. She stood up and straightened proudly, her shoulders squared and her arms crossed. The soldiers at the entrance moved slightly, becoming ill at ease.

The sound of her voice rumbled like thunder.

"LOVE! " Disbelieve swept through the air. " ... Are you insane?"

He still grinned. "It must be an odd feeling for you, Kahlan..."

"Don´t be stupid, Rahl!" she spat with disdain. "I know what love is. And how it feels! And you..." she shrugged, shaking her head "... will never have mine!"

Rahl's face showed his growing doubt. This behavior didn´t sound like love...

Frowning deeply, he approached her, mistrust clearly written on his features. His mind focused on their new bond and Kahlan felt it like his hands, pressing her strongly back to the chair. Dark grey shadows reappeared in her eyes, already started to whirl slowly. She still felt no fear, but anger. The same anger she had felt for Richard, sometimes, when his decisions had seemed childish and short-sighted.

Yet, this bond made her feel anxious.

He leaned closer, his eyes narrowed and the gaze she saw was no longer a friendly one. She could feel the pressure of his mind inside her chest, gripping at her heart, making her moan slightly.

With a pang she realized abruptly the danger that thickened the air. Cold. Threatening.

Her hidden, small voice started to scream.

Suddenly a horrible bang, a detonation whose impact made the castle shiver, followed by hysterical screams and howls startled the both of them.

Their heads whipped around, seeing the soldiers at the entrance eying each other, shocked and stunned. One whispered almost soundlessly, "The Keeper´s Shadow..."

"Get out" Rahl's yell crackled with fury. "I want to know what it is! NOW!" They turned on their heels and rushed out.

When he turned he didn´t miss Kahlan´s relief, her lips curling into a faint smile.

...

t.b.c.


	14. Deserved

**Summary:** ... Showdown in the Hidden Castle...

**Disclaimer: **Nothing of LotS belongs to me (such a pity!) - no business, just fan-fun

**note:** **I can´t believe it, but this is the last part...a big one, I admit **(Please, remember, this is my first fic ! And my first in english! AND now the first time for such "last parts"... LOL! )

– Hope you enjoy it! And if so: it would be great if you let me know you´ve liked it... :)

Thank you all for reading, and special thanks to those who took the time for a review! `Cause Comments are our breath of life...

**...**

**Deserved...**

The frightened men hurried to obey their Lord and rushed out to see what had happened. Rahl turned slowly, his eyes narrowed. His gaze touched Kahlan like an icy breeze. He stared into her eyes, forcing her to stay seated on the chair, and approached and brought his face close to hers. Doubt and anger lay in his breath as it waved over her skin. She could feel a shiver running down her spine. He searched for answers in her eyes. Answers to questions that weren´t supposed to be considered at all.

There should have been only two ways for the Mother Confessor to be affected by his spell. Either she should have fallen in love with him. Despite all her concern. Despite the fact that they were natural enemies. And even despite her memories of battles and war... She should have fallen in love with him because his spell didn´t leave her an option.

This would have meant the spell had worked.

Or, his spell _hadn´t_ worked! But in this case she should still the Mother Confessor he had known before: the passionate one who would spit her disdain on him with every word that left her lips, who would stare daggers into him and who, eventually, would give her life to kill him.

But the Mother Confessor who sat in front of him was neither head over heels in love with him, nor did she hate him with every fiber of her being.

_By the Keeper´s darkness! - WHAT HAD HAPPENED?_

Kahlan tried to flinch but Rahl forced her to look straight into his eyes and intensely watched the shadows that whirled in her gaze. They seemed odd. He had never seen such an effect before. But it was obvious that they were caused by the bond.

"I don´t know how it is possible that you are able to withstand me, Kahlan." His husky susurration was razor-sharp, his eyes gleamed viciously into hers. The Confessor just stared back, her eyes wide open, clouded but defiant. "I don't know which power allows you to fight my spell." He growled the words in an increasing threatening voice. "But _I swear_ I will break you. You _will _be at my feet. This way or another!"

His gaze was dangerous, his breath swept against her ears and she couldn´t help but swallow a lump in her throat. She felt sweat breaking her skin, but her eyes narrowed in rage at his blank threat.

Into the air-thickening tautness that held them at bay burst the sudden snarl of a voice from behind them.

"You shouldn´t make promises that you won´t be able to fulfill, _MILORD!" _the words dripping with scorn.

He whirled around to see a blonde Mord Sith, leaning nonchalantly at the door´s frame, her arms crossed, her head tilted and wearing a mocking expression.

"And you won´t have the time to fulfill it. Because I will kill you. Here and Now!"

...

The heavy weighted silence melted with the still horrible noise from the hall outside. Exited yells mixed with terrified howls and moans of pain, orders shouted, the crackling of fire whispering through it all.

Inside, Rahl straightened, his eyes washed over the Mord Sith who raised her chin and glared back with pure threat.

"Well, well! A Mord Sith comes home to her Lord!" Slowly emphasizing the words, he had an eyebrow pulled up in mockery and made a step back to the edge of the table behind him. He sat on it, warily watching every move of Cara. While his lips turned into a leer, he shook his head slowly.

"So my dear brother has sent his _pet_ for the rescue!" Cara´s eyes narrowed. "He should have known better. Haven´t you already _failed_ him when you were my dear guest last time...?" A wicked grin appeared on his face, knowing, as always, how to hit her.

Kahlan sat motionless, still feeling the forcing weight of his mind´s pressure on her shoulders. But her eyes were glued to the blonde. The sight of Cara, as she leaned arrogantly at the door´s frame with canted hips, her entire appearance emanating deadly elegance, had caught her breath.

"It wasn´t you, who broke me, Rahl, remember?" Her voice was low and dangerous. "_You_ were not even able to _reach_ me! If it hadn´t been for the magic, I would have _never_ broken for you again..."

"And I still wonder how this had been possible. My _little brother_" he chuckled, "can´t have been the reason. He isn´t man enough to change a Mord Sith of your caliber..."

"Whatever you think about him... He is Lord Rahl!... And I haven´t changed. I am Mord Sith! Let´s say… I have progressed; and you would be scared if you could recognize how much..." she almost purred.

Rahl smiled, his hands travelling to his beard to stroke it, barely showing any sign of worry. Speaking again, his voice had a sly tone.

"Well, Cara. Whatever the reason, I am sure that _Dahlia_... will appreciate welcoming you back, once you will..." He was cut off shortly.

"Dalia is no more!"

"What do you mean?" Suppressed surprise glowed in his eyes.

She only raised a brow. "I´ve killed her, Rahl! She joins all the others of your little army that I´ve sent to the Keeper..." Cara sneered at him.

Rahl looked her over, shot her a piercing glance, considering if this might be true.

"Is that so?" he muttered. And then, with knitted eyebrows, he continued, scorning her with words, set in mock astonishment. "So it was _you_ who acted the deadly monster in this castle? It was you who shied away from an open, honorable fight? Who preferred to hide in the shadows - as any chicken-hearted coward would?" His mad laughter sliced through the air. "And you try to tell me you haven´t changed? Cara! Who are you? And where is the proud Mord Sith I´ve known?"

She straightened, her eyes stared daggers. But she still didn´t move.

"_You_...are certainly not the one to speak about honor, Rahl! Who is the coward? Who is hiding behind 200 men like a weepy little brat in a Hidden Castle? Who needed a _whole troop o_f Mord Sith to shoot _one_ woman... _from behind_? And who _isn´t man enough_ to get things done without the help of dark magic - and _fails each time all the same_?"

He merely shrugged. "I am Lord Rahl!" He gave a sheepish grin. "But I still wonder what is it all about, Cara? Are you sent to destroy me? Isn´t it beneath you to rescue this woman who is your worst enemy? Who won´t falter in killing you if she gets the opportunity? What is it that tamed my unscrupulous weapon and aims it against me?"

Cara´s eyes flickered automatically to Kahlan, who´s eyes softened in a blink and answered her gaze with so much affection, that even Rahl had to recognize it. His gaze slid from the Mord Sith to the Mother Confessor, then back to Cara and again to Kahlan. His eyes widened in disbelieve as his brain slowly started to see...

It took him a few moments for the message to go from his eyes to his mind. And when it arrived, it left him stunned. This… couldn´t be true! This was the last thing he had ever expected. His mind raced. These two women were opponents! They were meant to be deadly foes. The only reason they hadn´t killed each other yet, should´ve been their personal commitments to his brother, who was presumptuous enough to force such silly relationships for the greater good...

But here she was, the last Confessor, her eyes glowing with affection, felt for the blonde Mord Sith who answered with nothing less than love...

...

He stood still, didn´t dare move the slightest bit. His chunky body wanted to tremble, every muscle aching with their tautness. He struggled hard to hold off the strain. The effort forced small trickles of sweat, running from his furrowed brows, dripping with salty pain into his widened eyes. He didn´t wipe them away.

His lungs longed for oxygen; the little air he caught with every breath was barely enough to give his hammering heart a reason to work, but he didn´t allow his chest to expand. Every motion had to be suppressed, had to be reduced to a minimum, to not disturb his focus.

He was a large, beefy man. He had never been a coward. And when he had met his foe today he had unsheathed his sword without hesitation. But she had been sent by the Keeper, there had been no chance to win in this unequal fight. The Keeper´s Shadow. No hesitation. No mercy.

She hadn´t killed him. She had granted him a choice. If he would stand it until her return, the Keeper would give him free.

And here he was, tied to a pile in this storage, his arms stretched shoulder height, wrists bound. Struggling hard to hold the weight of the heavy rock that was fixed to his forearm.

Every now and then his terrified gaze travelled between his tied hands and the long rope leading from his arms to a wooden cross brace above him and from there on to the fireplace. Its end was fixed to a small barrel, standing on a ledge.

The rest of the barrels, full with dragon´s fire, were arranged beneath it, around the small fire she had set aflame. He remembered her smirk, when she had turned and waved good-bye.

His arms trembled overwrought, eventually refusing obedience to his desperate will. They slumped slowly… and the rope stretched...

...

Rahl´s expression was steely, but inwardly he clamored. Again this cursed woman managed to fool him. His spell had not even touched her love; it had been aimed at the wrong person. His eyes narrowed, flashing with frustration and hate.

Kahlan groaned lowly as he used the bond to force her to turn to him. The shadows in her eyes clouded their brilliant blue into a fogged grey. She gasped for air as he dumped his will into her mind. From the corner of his eye he noticed Cara moving, enraged.

"The Mother Confessor and the Mord Sith?" His fleering laughter filled the hall. "This world is really doomed if such madness comes about..."

The deafening blast of another explosion stopped his speech cold. This time it came from nearby and echoed through the castle like thunder, followed by a few smaller bursts. The ground of the hall suddenly quivered. Kahlan jumped from the chair with widened eyes, fright written on her face; Rahl was thrown from the table and found himself lying on the floor which trembled in a short wave, his fingers gripping at the carpet to steady himself.

Cara had not batted an eyelid.

Outside the hall the noises had vanished for only an instant. But then the storm broke. Voices yelled in pain, howls and shouts for help welled up from the courtyard...The rumble of a crashing building, followed by more painful voices... Cracking noises from burning constructions...

Rahl had barely time to get to his feet, when the door was slammed open and two Mord Sith, followed by a dozen of his men stumbled inside, covered with dust and blood. They passed Cara without noticing and the first of them was breathless.

"Lord Rahl! The Castle is aflame. The troops are dissolving in panic! If we don´t stop them they will be scattered to the four winds. Some of them are already deserting. We have to abandon the Castle, Milord!"

Rahl shot her an infuriated glance, ignoring her words, pointing behind her, where Cara had pushed herself away from the door frame, her agiels ready to strike.

"Kill her!"

...

The group turned around, suddenly very aware of an opponent at their backs. The Mord Sith, trained to be living weapons to their Lord, didn´t waste time with calculating their position. They attacked Cara immediately. The soldiers refrained, trying to encircle the blonde. The last in their row approached from behind her and raised his sword as the fighters came closer.

The flash of a dagger´s blade, suddenly piercing his chest, stalled the strike in the nick of time. His eyes widened with his last breath, searching through the darkness that increased through his mind. The last he saw was whirling white that ripped the dagger out of him, leaving a bloody hole.

In that same moment, when Rahl´s group had turned to attack Cara, Kahlan had thrown herself into the battle. She handled Dahlia´s agiel as naturally as if it was one of her daggers. Striking against red leather, blocking a sword, flashing the weapon into the throat of a man, stopping his frantic howl as he jumped upon her, she fought her way to the blonde.

Within a few seconds she was at Cara´s side. The blonde welcomed her with a fierce, glowing glance, they both shared a loving heartbeat, before shifting to face their toes, gliding easily into their natural rhythm of fighting. Each one following a secret choreography, striking surely and forcefully; ducking and whirling. Each one leaving pain and blood on her wake. Both of them of deadly elegancy.

Together, they seemed to merge. Swaying in a dance, whose melody was played by death; each move a witness to their harmony. Never hesitating. Two halves of one. Leaving no break for their attackers to strike in. Their murderous dance a thing of breathtaking, ravishing beauty.

While they were focused on their fight, Rahl stood still beside the table and watched them warily. His eyes were glued to the two women, he couldn´t help but recognize the power that lay in the merging of the Mord Sith and the Mother Confessor. One of his own Mord Sith was dead. The other wouldn´t hold on much longer. His men started retreating already, despairing of the heavy blows the two women dealt. Some turned on their heels and rushed out, deserting from the hall, from the burning castle, seeking refuge in flight….

Rahl straightened and raised his chin. Resolving to bring it to an end, he called on the bond.

...

Kahlan´s sudden scream drowned the din of the castle out and unsettled Cara for an instant. She stopped and whipped around, her agiel still pressed into the last Mord Sith´s chest, who sunk to the ground, her eyes staring into nothing. Cara just stared stunned into the Confessor´s eyes, which were widened with an overwhelming agony.

Her pupils had become black suns, eating the brilliant blue of their surrounding skies, dimming them into a shadowy darkness.

The Mother Confessor stood rooted to the spot, gasping for air, her facial expression reflecting fright and pain. Unable to move against Rahl´s pressure, she struggled with all her mind to free herself from the firm grip that he held through the bond. A fist gripping at her heart, twisting it. A wall, blocking her thoughts. Rage and despair boiled inside her chest, every fiber of her rebelled, but his will was too strong. She couldn´t move; her hand that held the agiel loosened its grip and the weapon dropped to the floor. She could only watch helplessly as four men almost overwhelmed Cara, who barely fought them back, horrified of the sight of Kahlan´s agony. A loud moan escaped the Confessor´s throat, a moan of pain and horror.

Rahl approached slowly, smirking slightly. His narrowed eyes travelled between the two women, he obviously enjoying the view. Focusing on the bond, he forced a groaning Kahlan to her knees. Cara had hardly emerged from her shock and back to her surrounding again when she found herself in the brutal grip of four beefy soldiers, a sword at her throat and Rahl dangerously close to Kahlan. She saw Kahlan shiver, saw how her body shook convulsively, saw the shadows in her eyes whirling like living ghosts, heard her sobbing beneath her moans. And her rage exploded into a red fury.

With a yell she slipped out of the men´s grip. She ignored the pain as the sword scratched roughly against her shoulder. In one fluid motion she grabbed the sword arm and forced it against the nearest man, cutting his neck. Whirling around she threw her agiels into a throat at her left and a chest to her right. The last man standing was too scared of her attack to react. He fell a second later with widened eyes and a still open mouth.

"Stop it! Or I will kill her!" Rahl´s voice bellowed through the hall. "And _you_ will be the one to blame for her death…"

Cara whipped around with her jaw clenched. She saw Rahl standing at Kahlan´s side, his hand reached out, but not touching her. The Confessor knelt, her hands clutched at the Rada´Han around her neck, as if trying to remove it, sweat and tears running over her pale cheeks. Her agony was almost palpable. Her breath was heavy, mixed with deep sobs. But the most frightening were her eyes as she lifted them to stare at Cara. Their brilliant blue, that had always brightened Cara´s days, had vanished, substituted by whirling dark grey shadows, sparkled with glowing green flashes.

Cara felt her heart skipping beats, horrified at the sight. She froze and caught her breath, reluctantly shifting her gaze from Kahlan to Rahl, her brow scrunched together, a trace of blood trickling down her arm.

"Let her go! She will never serve you!" she breathed in despair. "But I will! Take me instead" she hated hearing her own pleading voice. Ever so weak, so broken. All she cared was the woman in front of her, who worked up all her strength to slowly shake her head, desperately whispering "No, Cara…".

Rahl stared with narrowed eyes at the Mord Sith, who dropped her agiels, standing slouching, almost humbly, waiting for his speech.

"I have no use for a _progressed_ Mord Sith! I can´t trust you anymore…"

"You could break me again…"her voice was small. She felt an unfamiliar wetness welling up in her eyes.

"Are you _begging_ for her?" he growled contemptuously, then laughed. A laugh filled with disdain. "No, Cara. I have other plans... To make her live, _you _will sacrifice yourself. I will give her another chance and renew the spell, but this time it will be addressed at the right person. So _your _death will mean _her l_ife…" He sounded amused, smirking at her, his chatting, priggish tone covering the murderous frenzy that lay in his words.

Cara´s eyes were on Kahlan. The Confessor´s gaze had turned inwards. Cara could sense how she called desperately for her own power, struggled heavily to pass the force of the metal ring that bound it, not willing to surrender. It shattered Cara´s heart into pieces.

And then she heard the noises. Small short noises coming from Kahlan´s throat. She wheezed and growled under broken breaths. Sweat poured off her face. She fought with a vengeance. Rahl heard the same, scared, as she straightened ever so slowly. He warily tried to intensify his grip on the bond. But Kahlan came to her feet on shaky legs, gasping heavily, swaying slightly. Her eyes were surrounded in scarlet, they seemed to throw out green sparks; dark, bloody lines appeared on her neck, a net of hot and feverish stripes, spreading slowly over her chest. Her entire body trembled. And suddenly the Rad´Han changed. Its silvery shimmer faded, it became darker until it started smoldering in black and green, its cold blaze searing the air, a humming sound piercing the hall.

Cara was magnetized by the sight, didn´t dare move; The Confessor´s eyes were a black and green whirl, her hand rose and reached out, heading for Rahl, the Rada´Han vibrated at her neck, sending green and black sparks into the air, and with a sudden sharp clangor it burst into pieces...

Everything seemed to fade in that moment. Cara could barely see a flash of black-green sparkles, connecting between Kahlan and Rahl, saw the both of them convulsing in the same rhythm, heard Kahlan´s scream and Rahl´s wheeze and sensed the deadly bond that threatened them both, through her own skin. Now, that Kahlan was freed of the Rada´Han the connection flew free in both directions, Rahl´s will smashed against Kahlan´s resolved mind; and she fought him back and shattered him with the power of confession, both of them fighting their last, ultimate battle.

The Mord Sith reacted with her heart, as she saw Kahlan breaking, saw, how the Confessor fatigued; she didn´t notice that Rahl crashed to his knees, how he screamed in agony and finally his gaze broke, staring into nothing. All she saw was the Mother Confessor, close to breaking down and she was at her side in an instant. She embraced her, didn´t care that the magic was still alive, and pulled her tight to her own body. A thunder with no sound blared through her mind, caught her breath and rolled away through the burning castle.

Kahlan collapsed in her arms.

...

It was a meddlesome small beam of sunlight that woke her, tickling her nose. Kahlan hummed lowly, comforted by the warming sun. Until the sudden flash of memory made her eyes snap wide open and sit up in a blink, frowning deeply. Her gaze warily searched her surroundings. She found herself in a small clearing, the sound of a chirping bird in the treetops and a fire burning. The sunlight told her it was late afternoon. She heard someone breathing beside her and whipped around, her hand already raised for confession.

Cara smirked at the sight, staring at the hand and pulling up an eyebrow.

"Seems you can´t get enough of it?" her voice an amused smile.

"Cara!" Kahlan sighed in relief. Her hand grabbed Cara´s arm and pulled her close, her head buried in Cara´s shoulder. "I was afraid..."

Cara slowly shook her head, her voice softly reassuring. "No need to be afraid, Kahlan. No more!"

When Kahlan pulled back and looked straight into the green eyes that searched hers, the blonde could barely avoid a happy laugh. The brilliant blue had returned, beaming clear and bright.

"But...What happened? And how is it that we are here?" Kahlan felt still dizzy and puzzled.

"You collapsed after killing Rahl and I almost hauled you the whole way through the tunnels. You were more dead than alive..."

"Wait...I´ve killed Rahl?"

"You did." Her mouth dropped into a frown. "Though I had planned that pleasure for myself, actually!"

Seeing Kahlan´s expectant look she asked "don´t you remember?"

The Confessor frowned, concentrating on her memory. "I saw you, they kept hold of you. And then...it hurt! It was all pain." She lifted her eyes to Cara´s and swallowed. "And... you´ve offered him to break you." Her gaze went wet, her voice small as she shook her head. "I couldn´t allow that..." She shrugged uncertainly, "the rest is...blurred."

Cara settled behind her, her arms wrapped around Kahlan, who leaned back with a sigh, her hands stroking Cara´s arms.

The blonde breathed a kiss on the top of her head.

"It was breathtaking, Kahlan! He forced you through the bond that his spell had created. You fought against it. I don´t know how, but... you were stronger. And then the Rada´Han glowed in black and green and finally it broke. And once, your power was free it was as if _you _were the one who was in charge of the bond. Your magic... killed him. And when you fell... I was there..."

Kahlan held her breath, looking behind to meet Cara´s gaze.

"Have...have I hurt you?" Her voice a frightened whisper.

Cara smiled thoughtfully. "I don´t know. I think... you confessed me...I felt your power rolling over me, through me; it was tremendous." She gently hooked a wisp of raven hair behind Kahlan's ear. "But, see! Here I am!" She smiled.

Kahlan nodded and turned again, feeling slightly numb she huddled against the Mord Sith and sighed contently. They sat in silence, staring into the flames, losing themselves in the warmth of each other´s touch.

After a while Kahlan sighed again.

"I´m sorry, Cara."

"Sorry for what?"

"That I didn´t follow you out of the dungeons. That all wouldn´t have happened if I had!"

She received a playful slap on her shoulder.

"I´ll remind you, when you disobey me next time!"

Kahlan snorted. "_Fine then_**, **_**Mistress**_!"

Cara smirked satisfied. "If I had known where this all would lead us, I would have blown up this damn castle..."

Kahlan turned to look at her, an amused expression on her face, her brows pulled up.

"Cara... you _have_ blown up this damn castle!"

The blonde shortly thought about it and then nodded satisfied. "Yes. I guess I´ve been effective!"

They kept silent, until Kahlan started speaking again.

"Do you think Richard has closed the rift?"

The Mord Sith snorted noisily. Somehow Kahlan could sense the blonde rolling her eyes.

"Without our help? Probably not..."

Silence.

"You know we have to search for him...and Zedd..." Kahlan´s voice was low and the way she said it was almost apologizing.

The Mord Sith sighed resigned. "We will, Kahlan! The Spirits know what troubles he´s gotten into meanwhile... Just not now! We will leave tomorrow – and we will find him! Until then... we should use the break we have here..."

Her arms, still wrapped around the Confessor, moved slightly and gently stroke Kahlan´s, who snuggled impossibly closer against the blonde, feeling warm and safe.

The sun was already setting, when a sudden thought made Kahlan sit up abruptly. She moved and turned until she kneeled before Cara, her eyes wide.

"Cara..."

The blonde tilted her head, questioning.

"If... if my power can´t hurt you..." she blushed deeply.

Cara´s face brightened as her lips turned slowly into a mischievous smirk. The blonde chuckled.

Kahlan frowned slightly. "What?"

Green eyes travelled pleasurably down her neck and rested on the seductive mounds which crested the beautiful cleavage in front of her. She bit her lower lip and lifted her eyes again, locking with bright blue ones and reached out to pull her close. Gloved hands claimed her back. Her answer was a hot breath in Kahlan´s ear.

"I wondered, if you would ever get the message..."

Her chuckle was cut off as soft lips brushed against hers. Kahlan pushed her and they rolled over on their backs, giggling like girls. Cara found herself pinned to the ground, Kahlan´s face incredibly close, blue eyes trapped in her own. The giggles slowly died, as her gaze went serious, brilliant blue looking deep into glowing emerald green. Ever so slowly, almost devoutly, Kahlan leaned in and her lips touched Cara´s. Carefully. Exploring. She pulled back, a look of wonder in her eyes and let her tongue glide over her bottom lip. Cara´s eyes followed the motion, magnetized of the view, feeling something inside her reacting; heat rising inside her. Heat that was not only from her body but also from deep inside her heart. Her hand reached out to pull her close, and then she kissed her. Their lips brushed together, and Kahlan´s tongue found its way as Cara slightly parted hers, taking it as an invitation, probing the edge of her teeth, meeting her own tongue with a tender touch, and, encouraged by the response, moved and sucked on it. The Confessor lowly groaned while their kiss went deep; her hands moved and cupped the blonde´s face, her thumbs stroke her cheeks; their tongues danced in a feverish rhythm and teeth ran along her lips. They only pulled apart to gasp for air, panting heavily as the blonde flipped them over. Straddling the brunette, Cara lowered her head to taste her skin with the tip of her tongue, creating a delicious line along her neck down to her cleavage; marking it with small sharp bites that made Kahlan growl; swallowing her familiar smell. Small noises escaped Kahlan´s throat, her hands glided into the blonde´s hair; she moaned as her eyes closed, drifting with the unfamiliar sensation of being touched and trusted. A feeling that made her dizzy; that sent hot shivers down her spine. Her breath quickened as she felt Cara nibbling at heated flesh.

"Wait, Cara" she managed to moan under her breath. "Wait!"

Reluctantly the blonde dragged back, her hand still cupping one of Kahlan´s luscious breasts. Her eyes searched the brunette´s, beaming with dark green of passion. Kahlan´s heart skipped at the sight but her hand was at the leather that covered Cara´s chest. "Get out of it!" she whispered. "I ... touch you... Please!" Cara rose with a leer on her face. "As you command, Confessor" she moaned huskily. Kahlan propped up on her elbows and watched; hungry eyes followed Cara´s hands as they unbuckled her belts, stripping seductively slowly, her fluid motions causing goose bumps on the Confessor´s skin, she lowly moaned as wonderful breasts were freed from their covers. Cara moved, but she reached out and stopped her, shaking her head devotedly. "All of it..." Finally naked, the blonde stood straight in front of her, motionless; emerald eyes narrowed, breath quickened in expectation.

Kahlan licked her bottom lip and let her gaze travel over the strong and beautiful body that waited for her. The flickering light of fire painted playful dances of shadows and lights on tanned skin. Cara felt a hot wave blossoming under her skin and growing onto her belly as she watched Kahlan slowly move to stand, raising her hands, felt them cupping her breasts. Her nipples hardened at her touch as if they had waited just for this. She couldn´t hold back the moan that escaped her lips as Kahlan rolled them tentatively, pinched them. And as the brunette leaned in to lick hot wet circles around them, as she felt her forcefully sucking on them Cara couldn´t help a soundly growl. Kahlan lifted her eyes with the sound and held her gaze, passion glowing in velvet blue, while she slowly stripped herself. The Mord Sith swallowed as the silky white fell; she felt wetness pouring between her thighs and groaned as she couldn´t help but reach out to help her impatiently out of her corset, dragging her near against her own bare flesh.

Her heated skin brushed against firm breasts, her hands roamed greedily over hills and valleys, touching and squeezing, her tongue set hot marks on sensitive spots; and she could sense Kahlan´s wet respond. Quick and warm breathes mingled with small noises escaping their throats. Craving left no longer space for patience. Cara´s teeth roughly moved against the Confessor´s swollen lips. Kahlan felt forcefully led to the ground. She felt Cara´s hot tongue playing with the hardness of her nipples and growled as her teeth scratched along and she felt her arousal slick between her thighs. Her loud moan encouraged the blonde, made her passion burn with even more fire. As her licks and nibbles continued Cara lifted her gaze, inhaling the view of Kahlan. Her hand glided down over a tight stomach, felt the muscles tense with her touch and slid around the soft curves of a hip, gripping firmly strong buttocks. Kahlan had her eyes half closed, low groans escaped her parted lips, tiny pearls of sweat glistened on her skin and her body trembled. The sight of Kahlan´s aroused beauty made her shiver with pleasure, it caught her breath; a sensation of never expected warmth filled her chest, wrapping her heart, knowing that she was the one who was able to evolve such feelings in her Kahlan.

"Cara..." a whisper between low moans. The brunette rolled her hips against Cara´s, longing for her. Waves of heat rolled with them; Kahlan felt them reaching her core, made sweet moisture cover her folds. Her hands clutched desperately at Cara´s back, pulling her closer, wanting. Wanting this woman, wanting to feel her, needing her...

Cara could feel her passion, could smell her arousal and tasted the salty heat on her skin. It was more then she had ever experienced; their moves, beyond all sexual arousal, melting together in magnificent coalescence. And she knew she would memorize this moment forever. She didn´t look away as her thigh pressed firmly against Kahlan´s center, probing the wetness that welcomed her skin. Kahlan gasped at the sensation, moving her hips in circling motions as she rubbed her moisture into Cara. The small noises that escaped her throat mingled with Cara´s whimpers who felt the throbbing in her own core. She could sense the Confessor close to the edge and moved to kiss her again, her tongue claiming her mouth forcefully. She dragged her thigh away and replaced it by her hand, firmly stroking up and down the wet folds, pressing and rubbing her fingers where she knew they were needed until Kahlan moaned desperately.

"Cara... please..." Her back arched against Cara, inviting her to go further and the blonde followed her request. She gasped for air as she felt Kahlan´s hand glide between her own legs, coated with her own wetness. As her fingers slid inside Kahlan, hot and wet, she did the same. Cara felt the brunette´s fingers matching her own moves inside her, thrusting, curling and her back bucked against her. She heard herself moan Kahlan´s name loudly, heard Kahlan respond with throaty groans and pushed forcefully against her, reaching deeper with every thrust. Their pace getting quicker, their pushes harder. The smell of their moistures thickening the air with sweet arousal; their groans and moans becoming more and more urgent. Their fingers kept thrusting, faster and faster and Kahlan whimpered desperately. She felt her powers scratching at the walls and a short hesitation flickered through her mind, but Cara pushed harder, feeling her doubt. Her heavy moan touched Kahlan´s ear.

"I love you Kahlan... It will be fine... come for me..." and Kahlan let go. Her eyes went black as their bodies rocked against each other, shuddering with pleasure. Her scream welled up from deep inside, echoed by Cara´s cry a she lost herself. Thunder with no sound rolled over its walls, burying the world beneath their love, washing them both away in their common bliss...

As they lay later, still panting, Cara gently covering Kahlan´s body with her own, feeling the brunette tenderly stroking her back, she suddenly knew with absolute certainty that all the different trails in her entire life had only had this one purpose:

To find the Mother Confessor. To love her. And to be with her like she was now...

Skin to skin... Soul to soul...

For the rest of her life.

...

The End


End file.
